The Story of Aidan Wolfe
by Jerem6401
Summary: Aidan Wolfe's father is stolen from him by President Eden, and it's up to Aidan to track them down and rescue him, with the help of some friendly locals, Charon, Paladin Rex and Reilly.
1. Finally Free

My father used to tell me, that our little house in the middle of nowhere was the greatest place there ever was. We kept to ourselves and never saw anyone… or at least _I_ never saw anyone. On those random and rare occasions when someone would come knocking at our front door, my father would tell me to go into the basement, while he took care of the situation. I'd step down onto the creaky wooden stairs to the basement, followed shortly by my father closing the door and pushing firmly until it securely clicked shut. I remember putting my ear up against the cold, splintering wood to try and figure out what was going on and piece together the identity of the visitor. Usually my father would just end up talking to someone, inviting them in for a bite to eat, or for some kind of medical treatment. In these cases my father would allow me to come out and meet them. This was one of my favorite things, meeting people who lived out in that mysterious wasteland and hearing the amazing tales they had to tell. They told stories of mysterious settlements and horrifying monsters. These were the times I cherished the most. However, sometimes when my ear went against that door I would hear yelling, gunshots, and some noises that I can't even describe.

My name is Aidan Wolfe. My father is Maximus Wolfe. I am seventeen years old, eighteen tomorrow. The only people I've ever known are my father, and my mother, who died about four years ago. She was plagued by disease until she finally passed away, but I know it was for the best. My father travelled constantly, looking for a way to cure her, but no settlements, even Megaton, had any treatment for her rare disease. The pain she was constantly enduring was becoming too much for any of us to bear, so it was somewhat of a relief when she finally slipped out of her misery.

Every now and again the people I meet from the wasteland would stop by a second time, and sometimes more. It appeared that a few of them thought of our home as a safe-house or rest stop when making long journeys through the unforgiving wastes. One man I'll always remember is Franklin Woods, a merchant from a settlement in the southeast. He stops by our home almost every month, even though he says it's a good four day walk from where he resides. Our house is on the way to a large scrap heap that he likes to scavenge for products and supplies. He always has some kind of weapon on him, and usually brings us food, supplies, and ammunition to defend ourselves from everything that isn't a friendly traveler. I don't know where he came from, what he does, or where he lives. He only told me one thing. "If you're ever in trouble and need to find me, all you have to do is ask around, cause people know me. Don't ask for Franklin Woods, though, ask them for Flak."

I didn't know anything about what it was like outside our home. From what I could see out of our musty and almost opaque windows, there was just nothingness. A barren wasteland of death and destruction, covered in a never-ending sandstorm. On windy days the landscape would be hidden under clouds of dust that blurred anything beyond the pane of glass before me. However, the day would sometimes be calm enough that I could see far into the distance, further than I thought possible. I could see a large river, flowing with gray and brown water that churned near the shores and ran smooth as glass in the center. The sickly color of the water made me a firm believer that anyone who stepped into it would emerge with a third arm. Beyond the river I could barely make out a bridge crossing from shore to shore, with a barn next to it and houses sprinkled up on top. I dreamed of going there one day, but my father forbade me from leaving the house until I was eighteen, and what he considered a man. Tomorrow was that day. My father had promised me he would take me to that bridge in the distance, where he would get his food and supplies from the traders that made their way into that area. A small town called Arefu.

As a laid in bed that night, I heard the regular sounds of a scarred wasteland shrouded in darkness. The horrible scratching outside our home, like someone was carving their names into the siding… and for all I knew they were. There were no windows in my room, so I could never see whatever was trying to get inside our house. All I could do was lie in my bed and try to sleep through the terrible gargles and clicks that came from the walls around me. During the wet season we would get more activity than usual, which even provoked my father into pulling out his rifle and sitting silently in our kitchen, almost begging for an intruder. I believe it was because the river begins to rise during that time, creeping dangerously close to the house, and letting the creatures that live there have easy access to our sanctuary. I did everything I could to ignore them, until the noises finally stopped and the unwelcome visitors slipped away into the night. Finally my eyes closed, and I drifted off to sleep.

"Aidan! Get up, son! We'll miss the traders if we wait any longer! Crow ain't gunna wait for us before he moves on." My eyes shot open. Was my father being serious? Was it really time for me to leave the house? I leapt out of bed and threw on some of my clothes, a dirty pre-war t-shirt and some ratty denim jeans that were barely blue in color anymore. My father would take them out to be washed every week or so, but these ones smelled kind of old.

I ran out of my room and saw my Dad standing by the door. He was wearing his usual combat armor that he had since he was my age. It was a shade of green, though some of the paint had worn away over the years of use. Stamped on the chest-piece was a white shamrock with swords crossed in front of it. Whenever I asked him about his mysterious armor he told me to wait until I was older. Well, now that day has come. My father had his trusty hunting rifle mounted on a holster strapped over his shoulder, which fastened the rifle securely to his back, yet allowed him to have it drawn in an instant. Whenever Flak stopped by he'd give my father a fresh box of .32 caliber rounds. Where he got all that ammunition I'm not quite sure. I often assumed he made his own… even though I had no idea how someone could do that.

"You ready to leave the house, Aiden?" asked my father. I jumped to his side, questions burning in my head.

"I can't wait, Dad!" I yelled, louder than I meant to. My father smiled and turned to the counter next to the door. A small, black leather case sat on it, sealed with three latches and a lock. My father reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver key that glinted in the light of the sun leaking through the kitchen window.

"Well hang on there, sport," he said as his unlocked the case. "First I've got a birthday present for you. I'm still a little uncomfortable about giving you this, but I feel that now is as good a time as ever." My father opened the case and showed me what was inside. It was a deep black pistol, with a massive scope attached to the top and a silencer screwed onto the barrel. The cylinder of the pistol looked old, with paint worn from thousands of spins. Clips of ammo were scattered in the case, along with several tools used for cleaning and maintenance. A holster was also sitting in the case, ready to be strapped to its next master. "This, son, is the best weapon I have ever owned. This is my old Scoped .44 Magnum. Never let me down out there in the Wastes. Named it the Stealthshot, because despite its deadliness, it never gave me away in rough situations. My father gave it to me when I was 18, and now… I think it's only fair that I pass it down to you." I looked into my father's eyes, speechless. Not only was I leaving the house for the first time, but my father was trusting me with my first weapon. Not just any weapon, but the one he treasured his whole life. I slowly reached out and picked up the pistol.

"Thank you, Dad," I said quietly. "I don't really know what to say." My father smiled and put the case back down on the counter. He put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye.

"Now don't you go feeling all high and mighty with that gun, you hear? Damned if I didn't lose my mind when my father gave it to me. Went around shooting everything I could. But you listen to me, son. Ammunition is scarce our here in the Wasteland, and we don't have the option of getting more until Lucky Harith makes his way back here on his route. Ammo especially for this weapon is worth more than all the caps you've ever seen. So use it only when necessary." I nodded and tied the holster around my belt. I tucked the Stealthshot into it and the rest of the ammo into the available slots on the holster. Now I felt like a real warrior of the Wasteland.

"You can count on me, Dad," I replied with a smile.

"I know I can, son. Your mother would be so proud to see you like this. She was fighting to make it to this day, but she just couldn't hold on." I sighed and looked away from my father. An old photograph sat in a sparkling frame on the other side of the kitchen. My mother had a bright smile in the picture as she held my father's hand in front of our home. It seemed like the frame was the only clean object in the entire house, seeing as my father would sit for what seemed like hours, staring into the glass and wiping dust away from my mother's smile almost constantly.

"I really miss her, Dad."

"I know you do, son. I miss her, too." My father slowly turned and opened the door, letting the sunlight pour into our dim house. He stepped out into the wasteland, burying his feet into the dust covering the ground. His took in a deep breath and looked back and forth. I made sure my holster was fastened one last time before rushing through that door.

It was magnificent to me. The gentle breeze brushing over my face. The dust rolling across the landscape and creating small waves in the river off in the distance. The sky was a clear blue, dotted with a cloud every now and again. Sometimes at night I would look up at the sky from my kitchen window and gaze at the millions of stars. Many were moving across the sky, though they were usually abandoned satellites, rather than meteors and comets.

"Well here it is, son," my father stated. "The biggest shithole in the world. The Capital Wasteland. You got everything from your Molerats, to your occasional Super Mutant out here, boy. Best to always keep that gun close. You'll come to see that everyone else out here is doing the same." My father pulled out a cigarette and a match. He lifted one leg and scratched the match against it, ignited the small stick. He lit his cigarette and puffed a ball of smoke into the air. "You ready?" I nodded and followed him as we began walking towards Arefu.

"So, Dad," I started. He turned his head to me as we continued hiking across the scarred landscape of the Capital Wasteland. He pulled the cigarette away from his mouth, bowing a puff of gray into the sky, which constantly changed shape until it faded away. "Where did you get that armor you always wear?" My Dad turned back to the trail and put on a small smile.

"Back when I was about your age, I met up with a young girl, who was hoping to make it big the Wasteland. She had bright orange hair, as fiery as that hot temper of hers. Her name was Reilly. She told me that she wanted to start a group of mercenaries that would take jobs in exchange for caps and supplies. We're not talking about killing and what not. Reilly didn't solve problems with just a bullet to the head. She liked jobs like escorting individuals safely across the wasteland, and rescuing lost family members. She came to me, asking for my assistance. You see, me and Reilly, we were the best shots in the whole Wasteland. I could hit a frenzied bloatfly from 50 yards with the Stealthshot, and Reilly was none too bad herself."

"Wow," was all I could say. I had no idea my father was like this. I always looked at him as a hero… but never as a superhero before. "What happened to Reilly?" My Dad kept his eyes forward, locked on his destination. They darted around as we walked, keeping an eye out for any intruders along the way. Every rock and dune in the wasteland could possibly be a point of ambush, and it was something I never had to consider before.

"Not too sure, actually," he replied. "My best guess is that she's still running her little mercenary operation down at our old base in the southeast of DC. I hope it did as well as she hoped."

"Where did you guys meet?" My Dad sighed and then stopped walking. We were nearing the barn next to Arefu, but my Dad felt the need to turn to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Son," he started, "this is something you should have known a long time ago." He looked away from me for a moment, gathering his thoughts and trying to find the right words. His eyes floated around the wasteland, eventually falling on our house off in the distance. "I haven't been completely honest with you. I wasn't born in that house over there. Me and your mother found it a few years before you were born." My mouth dropped and my eyes shot open.

"What? You lied to me?!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Everything I thought I knew about my father… was wrong. I was wrong about where he was born, what he did, who he was.

"I'm sorry, son."

"I want the truth!" My Dad removed his hand and stepped back, looking shocked. I was, too. I had never yelled at my father before. My father sighed and walked to a rock near us. He sat down and looked up at the sky. I could tell that he was calling back a lot of memories that he probably wouldn't mind keeping locked away.

"I used to live in a settlement to the northeast, called Old Olney. It was a prospering town after the bombs fell and society started to rebuild. It was the only place I knew of that had a functioning medical center, along with a steady supply of food and water. My father figured it was where he would stay and raise our family." My father looked at the ground and threw his cigarette into the dirt. He sighed and looked back up to the sky. "However, around the time I was twenty, everything started to change in Old Olney. People began disappeared whenever they went out after sunset, and search parties would either come back with nothing… or not come back at all. Days later we'd find their bodies, maimed and mutilated." I stared at my father, barely able to wait for further information on his former town. "At first we thought it was attacks by raiders, or super mutants, but these attacks… these were different. There were no bullet wounds on the corpses, no bruises, just slices and chunks torn from them. It was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen. This started happening more and more frequently, and closer to the actual town. Whatever was out there… it even got my own parents." My father gave a quick moment of silence for his fallen parents, and I couldn't help but do the same. "So eventually the few of us that remained fled the town, before those things came for us."

"So that's where you met Reilly?" I asked, curiously. My father shook his head and returned his eyes to me.

"I met Reilly when I was twenty-five. I decided to go back to Old Olney and see if I could find out what was killing everyone. Solve this mystery in my life. However, on my way there… I found something else." My father grew quiet again and stared at the ground, like whatever he found was lying right in front of him. "Something was there… that took me weeks to even believe. That's where I met Reilly. We decided we'd have our discovery locked away until the world was rebuilt enough to handle something of that magnitude. We had it taken away to Reilly's compound and locked in a chamber there. One day I'll take you to our old headquarters and show you, but for now, I think it's best if you didn't know."


	2. Kidnapped!

"Well look who's here!" yelled a man sitting in a chair in front of Arefu. "If it isn't Maximus, back again!" My Dad snickered and walked up to the man. The hike up the bridge had me tired, mainly because I got almost no exercise inside that house, other than running up and down the stairs. I kept myself in shape and spent a lot of my time working out… being as there really was anything else to do. My father also stressed the importance of working out constantly to me. If I wasn't strong, I wasn't ready for the wasteland.

"How's it going, Evan?" asked my father. Evan was an older, stout man with bullets strapped around his chest, like he had an entire army to supply. He had an assault rifle in one arm that he let hang by his side and sported a gray-spotted goatee. He was bunkered down behind some sandbags, with what seemed to be a lawn-chair and boxes of ammo stored next to him.

"Me and the town are still here, so I'd say it's not too bad," he replied. "The brahmin have been giving us good milk recently. Not sure how irradiated that shit might be, but it's sure as hell better than nothing." Evan and my Dad laughed for a moment before Evan's eyes shifted to me. He stared at me for a few seconds before I lifted my hand and gave a small wave.

"My apologies, Evan," started my father, "this is my son. Out for the first time."

"My God. You're Max's little boy, huh? Aidan. Should've guessed it, since you're damn certain a spittin' image of your father. About time you stepped outta that house up there." I smiled and looked around the town. Evan's home was further back on the bridge, while smaller houses dotted the pavement. I'd say there were about three others. The bridge was riddled with cracks, exposing the metal rebar underneath. Beyond that the cracks led to a frightening fall and a certain death.

"What's it like living up here?" I asked. Evan puffed out his cheeks and thought for a moment. He looked back at the town and smiled.

"Well it might be a little less than heaven, and it ain't no Tenpenny Tower. Hell if it ain't just a giant shithole floating on top of this here bridge. However, it's a shithole that's kept us safe and alive for years now. So therefore I love it here."

"Well put, Evan," my father commented. "We're here to pick up some supplies." Evan nodded and stood up to get a look over our shoulders.

"Well then you're in luck boys," he replied. "Looks like Crow just pulled in down at the bottom of the bridge. Why don't you go on down there and pick yourselves up some food and medical supplies before the man heads on his way again. If you're plannin' on having any milk you might wanna invest in some Radaway." Evan broke into laughter as my father turned to walk back down the bridge.

"Keep up that humor, Evan," my father yelled back. "So long." I waved and turned to follow my father down to the base of the bridge. This was the greatest day of my life. Spending the entire day with my father, out in the Wasteland for the first time. Learning all new things about my father's life, and what he used to do. This was life at its best.

"Get the hell out of my house!" I shot up out of my bed and looked around my room. The screaming had come from outside my room, down in the kitchen. I could tell it was my father shouting, but he sounded furious.

"Tell us where it is, or else!" I couldn't recognize the second voice, but it had a southern accent to it. "Give us that technology or suffer the consequences!"

"You aren't ready to use it yet! What in God's name is the 'all-powerful' Enclave going to do with that kind of technology? You guys are up to no-good and I can see right through you! The wreckage stays with me until _I _decide the Enclave is level-headed enough to put it to good use!" Suddenly I heard bangs and crashes as my kitchen was torn apart. My father yelled and I jumped from my bed.

"We have ways of making you talk, Mr. Wolfe. No one refuses the will of Colonel Autumn and gets away with it. You're giving us that technology one way or another! President Eden himself will make sure of that!" Suddenly I heard the front door slam shut and rotors approaching my home. I tore open my door and ran into the kitchen. I saw bright lights piercing the night out of the window, blinding me. I stumbled my way to the door, searching for the handle in the bright white of whatever was outside. I grabbed the Stealthshot off the counter and kicked the front door open.

"Dad!" I screamed. I front of me was a massive helicopter, the rotors tearing through the air and sending dust in all directions. I could barely see the image of my father through the smokescreen. He was being forcibly loaded into the craft by figures that I couldn't make out. "NO!" I ran towards the vehicle, but it was too late. The helicopter had already lifted off the ground and swiftly bolted to the northwest, disappearing from sight in a few seconds. I dropped to my knees and stared up into the sky that had just stolen my father. Tears flooded down my cheeks, for I was powerless. I could do nothing. What did they want with him? What was this technology they were after? Suddenly it hit me. I thought back to earlier that day, when my father was telling me about him and Reilly.

"We decided we'd have our discovery locked away until the world was rebuilt enough to handle something of that magnitude. One day I'll take you to our old headquarters and show you, but for now, it's best if you didn't know." His words echoed in my brain, as loose ends connected and questions seemed to answer themselves. The Enclave must've been after whatever my father and Reilly found in the Wasteland. I thought for what felt like hours, still on my knees in the dust of the Wasteland. I knew what I had to do. I had to find this hidden stash of my father's, then use it to get him back from the Enclave. Whether by using whatever technology he found… or by using it as bargaining leverage.

I slowly stood up and ran back to my house. I grabbed all the ammo I had, along with some Radaway, some food, and some Stimpaks, incase I took any damage. Was I really going to do this? I knew nothing about surviving out in the Wasteland. What if I got attacked by Raiders, or Radscorpions? I shook off the thoughts as I continued grabbing supplies from all the shelves in the kitchen. I had no choice now. I stepped towards the door and got ready to leave. Then I stopped and looked back at the table. On it was my father's old combat armor. I thought for another moment before rushing to the table and grabbing it. It was a deep green color, with pieces of gray wherever the green paint had been stripped away. There was also a symbol printed on the chest-piece that I had never paid attention to until now. It was a shamrock, with two swords crossed in front of it, carefully painted with high-detail. I took of the clothes I was wearing and strapped into my new armor.

With the armor on I felt empowered. I felt like I could face anything in my way. I ran to the door and ripped it open, staring out in the darkness of the Capital Wasteland. I took a few steps out into the night and let my feet sink into the dust for a moment. It was still pitch dark out, but I knew the sun would be rising within the next hour or so. The blue colored moon shined down over the barren landscape, casting shadows of all shapes and sizes from the rocks and clouds. I checked the compass built into the wrist of my father's armor and aimed myself towards the southeast. It looked like I was headed deep into DC. However, right as I took my first step, I heard a sound. It was a grotesque chorus of gargles and clicks that were muffled, like the cause of the sound was buried in the sand. It was the sound I heard outside my windows all those times I lied awake in my bed at night. I looked back towards my home and tried to pinpoint the noise in the darkness.

"Who's there?" I yelled. I stared at my house for what seemed like an eternity, listening to the horrid noises coming from it. Then I saw something step out from behind the house. It stood on two legs, but was gigantic. I could barely make out the silhouette of this creature in the shadows of the night. It was like a frying pan with legs in the darkness. I watched in horror as two giant claws grew from the shape and clicked several times. The gargling got more ferocious and the creature took a step towards me. I knew it saw me, and I knew it wasn't docile. I fumbled for my gun as the creature lunged off its footing. I pulled out the Stealthshot and took aim at the growing figure. I squeezed the trigger and felt the incredible recoil of the first shot. I saw the bullet spark off of the creature's stomach as it continued to stampede towards me. The sparks lit the figure for just a moment, giving me just enough time to take in the sheer horror of its true figure. Sweat was pouring down my face as I pulled the trigger again. Another bullet hit the top-left of the creature and again, ended with no more than a spark. The creature was again illuminated, but this time I could see two pulsing jaws in the center of its tiny face. The figure was getting closer and closer, twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet. I had one last chance. I aimed carefully and fired my last hope shot. The bullet went straight for the top-half of the figure, dead center. It sunk deep into the creature's face, and I even heard the bullet hit the hard armor on the monster's back. The shadow continued to move towards me as its feet began stumbling around. I jumped to the side just as the massive figure fell into the dirt, sending a puff of dust into the air.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! You've got to be fucking kidding me! There's no way!" I screamed over and over again as tears poured down my face. I hadn't even left my home yet, and already I felt inches from death. I held the Stealthshot close to my chest and took some deep breaths. I slowly lifted my hand, which was shaking like an earthquake, and turned on my wrist-light, built into the armor. The light fell onto the dead creature, making it fully visible for the first time. I immediately recognized it. It was a Mirelurk. My father had repeatedly warned me about them, and I had even seen them roaming around the river near my home. Huge lobster-like claws and a body like a horseshoe crab, covered in armor. My father told me the only way to kill a Mirelurk was to shoot it in its exposed face. I suppose he was right. However, something was different about this Mirelurk. The ones I had seen by the river were always a sky blue color, and usually stood about five feet tall. This one, however, was dark brown in color, and must've been around eight feet in height. There were also several smaller claws sticking out from under the shell. I would've turned it over to get a better look, but it must've weighed around three hundred pounds. Was it some sort of mutation? Perhaps one in a million? There was no way of telling. I stood up and watched as the sun broke the horizon in the distance, bathing the Wasteland in a deep hue of reds and oranges. I tucked the Stealthshot back in its holster and looked at my compass. I glanced towards the southeast and took a deep breath.

"I made a promise, father. Not just to you, but to myself." I regained my composure and brushed the dust off my armor. "I'm going to find that secret of yours. And I'm going to rescue you. No matter what it takes." I took a deep breath and started walking into the Wasteland. Once I was about a mile away and turned back and glanced over my shoulder. My house had grown smaller, and the bridge holding Arefu was now just a dot on the horizon. I said my last goodbyes to my lovely little home in the middle of nowhere, and continued on my way… to DC.


	3. What's a Ghoul?

"God damned Wasteland," I muttered under my breath. "100º during the day, and damned near freezing at night." I had a big chunk of meat from the giant soldier ant I had shot earlier sitting over a small firing I had burning in front of me. Having this light was comforting, but terrifying at the same time, seeing as it shrouded everything else in pitch black. I looked out in front of me over the Wasteland that was swallowed in the night. The skyline of DC was visible in the distance, faded by dust and fog. It would probably be another two or three days before I made it there. I had already been walking for 2 days and was approaching the start of my third. My ammo supply was running low after wasting most of my bullets on various creatures that attacked me on my journey thus far. You Gais, Molerats, and even Giant Radscorpions had all taken a swipe at me. I was just praying I could make it the rest of the way.

I grabbed the stick the ant meat was stuck on and pulled it out of the fire. Despite its grotesque appearance, it smelled delicious. Probably because I hadn't had a decently cooked meal since I left. I pulled off a piece of the meat and stared at it. It was no five star meal, but it would have to do. I stuck the piece in my mouth and chewed it, letting the taste sink in. It tasted like puss wrapped in an old sausage, and had the consistency of pre-chewed bubblegum. I cringed at the horrible flavor and did all I could to hold it down. Once the first piece had settled I ripped off a second. However, before I could bite down, I heard a sound. There were footsteps behind me, walking in a very human-like pattern. I grabbed the Stealthshot and prepared to fight a raider, or mercenary who may have followed me. I stared into the darkness and saw a man walking towards me. His stumbling footsteps conveyed he was either injured or completely drunk.

"What do you want?" I demanded. The man's head propped up at the sound of my voice and he stared in my direction. I figured he knew I was here, due to the fire that lit up like a sore thumb in the dark Wasteland. It kept away most of the animals, but was very attractive to raiders. I reached down to my wrist and searched for the switch for my light. I lowered my weapon to find it and clicked it on. I aimed it at the man and hit his stomach. What I saw was horrifying.

The man's stomach was covered in tattered pieces of flesh that were falling off of his body. Tiny bubbles of puss and gunk were growing and exploding into clouds of noxious green gas. Shredded clothing covered some of his body, including a solitary piece of armor draped over his shoulders, almost like a collar. I worked the light up his body until it came upon his face. As soon as it fell on the demon's face it screamed in a wretched raspy voice. Its few remaining teeth were a dirty yellow and its one visible eye was solid white, with the pupil hidden behind a milky film. It lunged out of the darkness and tackled me onto the ground. Its touch was painful, like his skin was corrosive. I squirmed away from it as it repeatedly tried to bite at my flesh. As I was lying on my back I raised the Stealthshot, aiming for the beasts head. It stood up and got ready to jump again.

"Have fun in hell," I muttered as I squeezed the trigger. The bullet took off on its path and sunk itself into the creature's head. Then the bullet exited out the back of its skull and continued on its journey, taking a disgusting trail of green and red fluid with it. I took a deep breath and waited for the grotesque man to fall, but instead he rubbed his forehead and then looked back at me. His fingers snapped back and forth into claw-like positions as he stared at my body, which probably seemed like just another meal to him. I gasped at the sight as the man stepped back and then pushed off his foot towards me yet again. I yelled and braced for impact, when all of the sudden a loud bang occurred behind me. A cloud of bullets hurled over my shoulder and into the beast. Two, three more shots rang out, each one tearing more and more flesh away from the monster. Another shot slammed into the man's head, shattering it into thousands of blood-stained pieces. Finally the deformed man dropped to the ground, his skin still boiling in the darkness. I took some deep breaths and dropped the Stealthshot to the ground. I turned and looked behind me to see a man standing in the darkness, his face hidden in the shadows of my fire.

"Th… thank you," I barely mouthed out. The man nodded and stepped forward into the light. Immediately I grabbed the Stealthshot again and aimed it at the man's head, but managed to keep myself from pulling the trigger. Just like the creature before, his skin was torn and deformed and his eyes were a pale white.

"Well don't go trying to repay me all at once," the man said in a calm raspy voice.

"What the hell are you?" I demanded. The man chuckled and whipped his combat shotgun over his shoulder which fastened to a holster on his back.

"What? You ain't never seen a ghoul before? You grow up in some vault or something?" I lowered my weapon and the man sighed. "Look, I'm just some unlucky guy who spent too much time in radiation, alright? It turns you into this. Too much radiation and some ghouls go feral, like that one that attacked you." I looked back at the dead ghoul, still in shock. "You're lucky I showed up. Those ghouls are what we in the wastes call Reavers. They've absorbed more radiation than any other, their skin is just bursting with it. Would've taken more than a few shots with that pistol to bring him down." I nodded and tried to regain my composure.

"Who are you?" The man stepped closer to me and examined my uniform. He stared at the cryptic symbol on the chest-piece and then looked up into my eyes.

"Where'd you get that armor, boy?" I looked down at the armor and then back up at the ghoul.

"It's my father's. He constructed it with some girl named Reilly." The ghoul's eyes widened and he looked at the armor more closely. He returned his gaze to me and raised an eyebrow.

"Your father has aided Reilly… from Reilly's Rangers?" I looked at the ghoul and then glanced away.

"Reilly's Rangers?" I asked, unfamiliar. "I guess. It was some girl named Reilly who wanted to start a mercenary group. I'm looking for her base down in the southeast corner of DC." The ghoul nodded and took a step back.

"Then I shall join you on your journey. Reilly's Rangers have saved me more times than I can count back in DC. It's only fair that I try and repay them, by helping you return to their base. I think it's pretty obvious by this point that you might not stand a chance out here, kid. Once we arrive, I feel my debt has been repaid." I thought for a moment, and then glanced at the ghoul's shotgun. I didn't trust him, but I knew he would only give me a greater chance of finding Reilly, and my father.

"Deal. You help me get to Reilly's base, and I'll make sure you get something for your troubles." The ghoul nodded and put out his hand. I looked at it, and then back up at the ghoul's face. Slowly I extended my hand and shook his. "My name is Aidan Wolfe." The ghoul nodded and his grip tightened.

"Charon," was all he said.


	4. The Subway and the Survivor

It had been a full day since Charon joined me on my quest. Nothing eventful had happened since the attack by the feral ghoul. Including the fact that neither of us had eaten since that burnt piece of ant meat I had over the fire. The only good news is that DC was only about 2 miles away at this point. I could see the dilapidated buildings jutting into the skyline and the countless roads leading to them. Finally I was getting into this gigantic city, hidden by the horrors of the Wasteland. However, as we neared, my heart began to sink. There was rubble from destroyed buildings everywhere. The concrete and rebar was piled up three stories high in the streets.

"Looks like we're going to have to do some climbing," I said casually. I prepared to start scaling the rocks when Charon grabbed my shirt and pulled me back.

"Those rocks look incredibly unstable," he stated. "One slip and you and me are done for. Might I suggest an alternate route." I stopped and looked back and forth between the wall and Charon.

"Listen, we don't have time to go around this thing!" I yelled. "If I want my father back we need to do this as quick as possible." I turned to climb and Charon grabbed me again. He spun me around to face him and pointed his finger right into my chest.

"And if you want to live to see your father again, you'll listen to me!" he yelled back. "You spent eighteen years of your life locked in a house! I spent twenty-five of mine alone out here in the Wasteland. My parents died when I was eight, and I was on my own after that. So I think I know a little more about surviving out here then you do." Charon pulled his finger off of my chest and started to look around. I sighed and looked down at the ground. I knew Charon was right, but didn't want to admit it.

"Fine," I finally muttered, "let's go around this thing." I started to walk and Charon put a hand on my chest.

"We don't have to go around it. We can always go under it." Charon pointed into the distance at a staircase that led down into the Earth. An old subway entrance from DC. "My best guess is that gate leads to a subway track that can spit us out somewhere in DC. We can find our way to Reilly's base once we're inside." I glared at the gateway and then slowly nodded.

"Sounds like a plan, Charon." He nodded back and we made our way over to the dusty staircase. The rusty metal gate at the bottom led to nothing but pure darkness. Dirt and dust floated into the tunnel, and disappeared when the sunlight was taken away. I gulped and looked up at Charon who sighed.

"Fine," he started, "I'll go first." Charon marched down the staircase and up to the gate. He grabbed one end and grunted as he pulled the gate with all his might. The gate squeaked and screamed as it was dragged to one side, a motion that probably wasn't done for years. It was impossible to see anything inside the hall it led to. I quickly flicked on my flashlight and aimed it into the corridor. It was grimy and damp, filled with pipes dripping green water onto the cold concrete ground. Radroaches scurried back and forth into cracks in the walls and flies crawled on the ceiling overhead.

"Paradise," I muttered. Charon walked into the damp hallway, carefully checking each doorway before passing it. I did the same on the opposite side of the hall. I opened doors quickly, aiming my gun into the empty rooms on the off chance of an ambush. I grabbed the next doorknob and turned it. Just as I did the door began to push against me. It felt like something was leaning on the other side, preparing to jump out when the door opened. I looked at Charon who saw my concern. He walked into the middle of the hall and aimed his shotgun at the doorway. I counted silently, one, two, three! I tore the door open and watched a shadowy figure fall to the ground in front of me. It was a body, dressed in old brahmin-skin clothing. He had shaggy brown hair and incredibly pale skin.

"Poor guy," Charon said quietly. "Better him that me, though. Looks like radiation or disease got to him." I knelt down next to him and slowly turned him over. He face dropped into the light and I fell to my backside. Most of his forehead and right cheek had been torn away. His chest was riddled with slash marks and his clothing was stained with blood. I stared in terror at the corpse before me and covered my mouth with my hand.

"Oh my god," I said quietly. Suddenly I saw Charon lift his shotgun and aim it directly at me. I gasped and stared into his eyes. However, Charon appeared to be looking past me, back at the door the body fell from.

"Look out!" he yelled. I turned around in time to see a huge figure burst from the door way and charge at me. It lifted its arm into the air and prepared to slash downwards. Charon unloaded two rounds into the beast, swaying it, but not killing it. I finally pulled out the Stealthshot and fired a round into the monster's leg. It buckled and fell awkwardly to the ground. Charon approached the fallen creature and put his shotgun directly on its back, before firing one last round through its armor plated torso, killing it. I gasped for breath, trying to gather what just happened. I stared at the body and shined my light onto it.

"A mirelurk?" I asked. "Down here in the subways? I thought they only lived by lakes and rivers?" Charon grunted and knelt down next to the mirelurk. He slowly rolled the beast onto its back and examined it. The mirelurk was a dull gray and had small buds all over its front, destined to become arms one day.

"What the hell is going on with this mirelurk?" asked Charon. "I've never seen any like this before." That's when I remembered, remembered the mirelurk that attacked me outside my home. How it was different from all the others I had seen before. Huge, brown, and sporting multiple arms. I was about to answer Charon, when a faint sound came from another room further down the hallway. It sounded like someone whimpering, crying to themselves. Charon looked at me and back at the door. I got to my feet and slowly approached the origin of the noise. The crying got louder and more desperate.

"Hello?" I asked. The crying slowly got quieter and then stopped for a moment. I listened closely as a voice rang out from behind the door.

"Is someone there?" it asked. "Who are you? What do you want?" The voice sounded agitated and scared. I reached out and turned the knob on the door. I slowly opened it and felt some force resisting. I pulled harder and the door ripped open. A cord attacked to the other side of the knob pulled tight and squeezed a trigger on a mounted shotgun aimed at the door. The shotgun fired at me, hitting me in the shoulder. I fell to the ground and cried out in pain. Charon ran to my side and knelt down beside me. He rolled me onto my back and examined my shoulder. He turned back and slammed the door that had caused all the trouble, in an attempt to hold off any further attack.

"You're okay" he said to me calmly. "You took one in the shoulder, but the armor absorbed the rest of the bullets. Lucky." Charon pulled out a stimpak and tightly gripped my shoulder. He tore a bit of fabric away to expose my skin and jammed the needle into my flesh. I cringed at the pain as the healing solution injected itself into my blood. The bleeding quickly ceased and the pain began to disappear. I grabbed my shoulder tightly and picked up my gun once again. Charon stood up and turned to the door. He clenched his shotgun and threw a powerful kick into the door, knocking it from its hinges. He aimed around the room with the light mounted on his shotgun, until it fell on a man huddled in the corner of the room.

"Please!" yelled the man. "Please go away! Don't kill me! I tried to help them! I tried! I did all I could! Please! Please!" Tears were pouring down the man's face and Charon lowered his weapon. The man had shaggy red hair which matched his dirty red beard. He was wearing tattered clothes that were soaked in mud and water. Charon walked up to the man and grabbed him by the arm. He forcefully brought him to the door and threw him into the hallway. Charon aimed the gun at him once again and pressed his finger against the trigger.

"Who are you and what are you doing down here?" he demanded. The man whimpered and his hands twitched near his head.

"I live down here!" he yelled back. "Me and my friends! We all live down here!"

"What was with the shotgun?!" I yelled. "You could have killed me!" The man crawled away from me, but I ran up and grabbed his shoulder. I flipped him onto his back and aimed my gun at his forehead.

"It's… it's all I have left!" he yelled. "I needed to hold them off! I only had one shot! I had to make sure I wouldn't miss!"

"Well if you're telling the truth… where are your friends?" I asked. The man looked around, up and down the hallway. Then he saw the body lying on the ground near our feet. His eyes widened and more tears began flowing. He tried to speak, but instead made nothing but high pitched squeaks and gasps. He reached out a shaking hand and pointed at the body.

"Th… that's D.. Dan!" he yelled. He cried out in agony and began crying again. "He was the only one left! Me and him were the only ones! The others! The others!" I stood back up and looked back at Charon, realizing this man was no threat. More likely than not, he was just someone who had lost his mind. I looked back to the man, who was completely beyond helping at this point.

"What happened to the others?" I asked calmly. The man was still breathing irregularly, but was starting to calm down. He gulped and began to speak in stutters.

"We… we all came down here to get into DC," he started. "B… but in one of the tunnels we found… we found food. Food and clean water. Stored… stored away. So we decided to live here. But… but then we ran out of water. So we used… used water from the flooded tracks. Me… me and Dan were the only ones who didn't drink it. We told them… we told them it wasn't safe." He shook his head at the mention of his friend, and shuttered a few times. He put a hand onto his forehead, almost like the memories were hurting him. "There… there was something in the water. It infected them. It infected them all!" He huddled up into a fetal position and rocked himself back and forth. "That's when _they _showed up." Charon lowered his weapon, intrigued by the story.

"Who?" he asked. The man stopped his stare with me and looked up at Charon. He lifted his shaking hand and pointed to the dead monster behind us.

"The mirelurks…" he said quietly. "They came into the flooded metro tunnels and made their home near ours. They attacked us relentlessly. But the infection… the infection made our friends immune."

"Immune to what?" I asked. He looked back at me with that same blank, lifeless stare.

"To them," he answered again. "The mirelurks wouldn't attack them. They acted like our friends were one of them. Like their kin or something. The infection… it started to change them. First it was just how they acted. They stopped speaking… stopped eating. Eventually they started losing their minds, screaming noises I didn't know humans could even make. Then the changes started to become physical. Their skin became rough… and scaly, and it turned a bluish color. When I last saw them a few weeks ago… they even started getting webs between their fingers and toes." Charon looked at me, and I returned the gaze. He sighed and looked away, but then the man began talking once again. "But whatever changed our friends… changed the mirelurks as well. They became bigger, and more aggressive. Some started turned brown and growing more arms."

"That's what I saw!" I yelled. The man stopped and looked up at me with wondrous eyes. "Outside my house near Arefu. It was a giant brown mirelurk!"

"They're spreading?" he asked in panic. I wiped the excitement off my face and replaced it with sorrow. The man slowly got to his feet and stared deep into my eyes. "We called them Hunters. Because they never stop tracking you, until you're dead." Charon grunted and put his shotgun onto his back.

"We don't have time for this," he finally said. "You should probably get out of here." The man nodded to Charon and returned his gaze to me. I reached into a pocket on my armor and pulled out a stimpak and radaway. I held it out to the man, who slowly reached out and took it.

"Be safe," I said quietly. "I'm sorry about your friends." The man looked down at the ground and slowly nodded. He turned away from us and walked towards the gate. We watched him open the gate and look back at us one last time.

"Thank you," he whispered. He turned and walked into the blinding light of the sun. Charon put a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at him.

"That was very generous of you," he stated. I nodded and looked down the hallway. The next room was a giant one that led to all the subway tracks. That was our way into DC. I started walking into the room and Charon slowly followed. We made our way into the giant center of the station and peered over the edge of the platform we stood on to see the tracks below us. I made my way to the stairs and slowly walked down them, Charon following me all the way. Then I saw some movement, down one of the tracks. It was certainly the track we had to follow, and I could tell whatever was down there wasn't good.

"Hold up," I whispered to Charon. I pulled out the Stealthshot and aimed it at the figure. It didn't seem to notice us yet. I looked through the scope to get a closer look. It was a mirelurk alright, about five feet tall and a light blue. I put my finger on the trigger and held my breath. I lined up a shot with his face and then quickly squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew through the air, almost in slow motion. It found its mark and took down the mighty creature in one shot. I lowered my weapon and sighed in relief. Charon nodded and leaned towards me.

"Good shot," he said quietly. I snickered and started walking again. We approached the corpse and Charon pulled out his combat knife. He started cutting meat off of the carcass and pulled out a bottle of purified water I took from the house before I left. The track we were on was covered in about a foot of dirty, irradiated water. I looked down in disgust at the sight.

"So what'd'ya think happened to those other guys who lived down here?" asked Charon. I shrugged my shoulders and took my last sip.

"Feral ghouls. Super mutants. Who knows?" I threw the empty bottle into the water, sending ripples everywhere. I looked down at my reflection in the water as a slowly came back into focus. However, I had to squint, for something was different about my shadow behind me. Suddenly the shadow grew two yellow eyes and a deep growl came from behind me. Charon looked up and his mouth dropped.

"Oh my god," he muttered. I turned to face the creature just as a hand with sharp talons grabbed my throat and threw me up against the wall. Charon ran to my aid, but suffered the same fate. We both had our backs against the wall and our throats in the grip of the creature before us. It leaned forward and let out an earsplitting roar. This beast looked like a human, but with giant lips and no nose. Gills ran down the side of its head and it was covered in blue scales. Giant webbings were under its arms and it's eyes were mere slits on its forehead. Charon squirmed next to me and threw a kick into the creature's leg. It turned its full attention to Charon and threw him to the ground, dropping me in the process. The creature pulled its arms back and leaned its head forwards as it marched towards the fallen Charon. Charon felt around for his weapon, but couldn't get a hand on it.

"Hold on Charon!" I yelled. I jumped to my feet and ran at the figure, tackling it into a broken subway car further down the track. The creature barely flinched and shoved me away. It turned to face me and reared its head back. It swallowed like it was about to belch, and then threw its head forward. A loud sound rang out and filled my head. I couldn't hear anything besides this ghastly noise. Suddenly the world became blurry and everything was split into fours. The creature sped in and out of focus as it marched towards me. I could feel the water churn as it neared me. Without any focused I flailed my leg around until it found the creatures left shin. It fell to its knees only inches from me. It put its head so close to me I could feel the heat from its breath when it roared. I grabbed the Stealthshot and threw it forward. It hit the creature in the face and then found its way in further… his mouth. I quickly squeezed the trigger and heard a terrible shriek come from the beast. It slowly slid of the barrel of my gun and collapsed in the water next to me. Everything slowly came back into focus as the silhouette of Charon appeared over me. He grabbed my arm and my shoulder and helped me up.

"What the fuck was that thing?" he asked. I shook my head and stared at the body in the water.

"I think… I think that's what happened to the others," I said solemnly. We both stared at the body in wonder and horror.

"They became mirelurks," he said quietly. I shook my head and gulped.

"They became mirelurk rulers," I replied. "Mirelurk kings." Suddenly another scream rang out from back in the main room. We both look down the track to see another mirelurk king and two hunters standing in the doorway. They all tensed up and held out their claws. Then they took off in our direction, teeth and claws bared.

"Run! Run! RUN!" I yelled. Me and Charon took off down the tracks, listening to the gargles and roars behind us. Charon began fiddled around with his armor and pulled something out. He stopped running and turned towards the mirelurks. I stopped ahead of him and looked back. In his hands was… was… a lunchbox? A lunchbox with a little metal box on the side.

"A lunchbox?" I screamed. "This is no time for food! Let's go!" Charon turned to me and waved his hand.

"GO!" he yelled. "I'll catch up!" I started to turn but then looked back at Charon and mirelurks running towards him. He looked at me again and pulled a pin out of the metal box. "RUN!" Charon dropped the box onto the ground and ran towards me. I stood in shock as the three mirelurks got closer and closer. Charon ran up to me and tackled me to the ground. The king got to the lunchbox and stepped directly on it. I heard two beeps and then suddenly a giant eruption. Flames filled the hall and shot over our heads. I could also hear metal objects clanking against the walls around me as the fired from the mine. The mirelurks screamed in pain and vanished in the fire. Our world became a blanket of smoke and everything was gone. After a few minutes the dust cleared and settled to the ground. Charon got off of me and looked back down the hall. I sat up and stared at where the mirelurks used to be. I looked at Charon is astonishment.

"What the fuck was that?" I screamed. Charon laughed and wiped his forehead.

"I'll show you how to make those sometime."


	5. Only Friend

It was no hotel, but our barricaded room down in the sewers under DC was the best thing we had. The ceiling leaked, the floor creaked, and all we had for food was raw meat cut away from the mirelurks that had pursued us only minutes ago. A small fire in the middle of the room gave us our light, and blankets only big enough to cover our legs were our beds. We found some dirty water and blanco mac and cheese in an old rusty locker, which we had cooked over the fire and quickly devoured. I was lying down on my blanket, while Charon sat by the fire we made from a wooden desk in the room and a flint that Charon always carried with him.

Charon was an unusually quiet person, and he was his quietest at the moment. He sat perfectly still, staring into the fire. His back was to me and his head hung low in his shoulders. I suspected he was sleeping more than once, before seeing his head lift, listen for any attacking sounds, and then drop down again when the coast was clear. I was lying on my back, usually staring up at the ceiling, wondering how I was going to find my father. I would never say it straight to him, but I couldn't be happier I had Charon with me. Doing this alone would have surely driven me insane by now.

"You still awake?" I asked him, out of the blue. There was a moment of silence before Charon lifted his hand and rubbed his face.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm going to lie down in a few minutes. Just want to make sure the mirelurks don't know where we're hiding out. You know?"

"Yeah," I answered. The room got quiet again, as Charon continued to stare blankly into the fire. "So what're you thinking about over there, anyways?" Charon lifted his head up and looked over his shoulder at me.

"Nothing." I sat up and Charon turned back to the fire. I slowly got to my feet and walked up to him. I sat down next to him in front of the fire and held out my hands, trying to warm them in the damp room.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked. "I'll listen." Charon grunted and started to stand up.

"I'm here to escort you to Reilly's Compound," he replied, "not use you as a therapist. I got some problems about my past that I'm still trying to sort out." He stopped again and put up his hand, listening for any sounds in the hallway. After a moment he lowered his arm and looked down at the fire again.

"Like what?" I asked. "What's the harm in telling me?" Charon sighed and started played with his gloves or checking his boots to see if they were fastened correctly. He did seemingly anything to keep his mind from focusing on just one memory.

"My parents got killed in a raider attack out in the Wastes. Once I'm done with you I have to find some friend of my father's. He lives in DC in a ghoul city hidden inside the Museum of History. Name's Ahzrukhal. Hopefully he can help me out. Get me a job." I nodded and started staring at the fire myself.

"You're a complicated and quiet guy, Charon." I looked up at him and put on a small smile. "And you've already saved my life more than once. I didn't trust you at first. Now I feel… well now I feel like you're my only friend out here." Charon snickered and slowly laid down on his blanket. He put his shotgun down next to him and rolled on one side.

"You know what, Aidan," he said quietly, "maybe I am." I smiled and stood back up. I walked to my blanket and laid down on it. The ground was cold and hard beneath it. I thought back to the days when me and my father would talk and tell stories before we went to bed. The tales I would hear whenever Franklin was visiting. The stories about giant monuments, and supermutants, and androids.

"Hey Charon," I called out. He grunted, letting me know he was still listening. "I'll help you get to Ahzrukhal, if you help me find my friend, too." Charon was still facing away from me, rolled on his side.

"Who would that be?" he asked. I thought for a moment, before quietly giving the answer.

"His name is Flak," I replied. "He told me he lives in a settlement in the southeast corner of DC. Probably near where Reilly's Compound is. I'm sure he can give us supplies if we find him." Charon still faced away from me. Then sighed and turned to his back.

"Very well," he answered. "If it's a settlement in the southeast, might I suggest making a stop at Rivet City. It's probably the biggest you'll find down there. I'm sure somewhere there would know where to find this guy." I nodded and slowly closed my eyes.

"Thank you, Charon," I said quietly. "For everything." The room got very silent, and I had figured that Charon was asleep. I started to drift away myself, when a soft sound penetrated the silence.

"You're welcome, Aidan," was all I heard. I put a on small smile and slowly drifted away into a deep, and well needed sleep. Tomorrow we were going to hit DC… and I could only imagine what that would be like.


	6. Welcome to DC

"Sore yet?" asked Charon as we trudged through the debris of DC. I kicked a stone out of my path and gave a few deep breaths. I wiped the sweat away from my head and chuckled a little.

"Shut the hell up," I said between breaths. Charon started laughing as we made our way to the southeast. It was a dense, foggy day, yet still incredibly humid. It sucked the moisture right out of us, and we were down to our last bottle of purified water.

"I'm sure it won't be long before we find a scavenger around here that can throw us some water," I took another deep breath and wiped away more sweat.

"I can only hope so," I replied. Suddenly we heard a man yell down the street in front of us. We looked into the fog, but could see nothing. The denseness cut visibility to a mere six feet at times. More grunts and yells came from the fog, like a man was fighting for his life. We walked closer, each putting a hand on our guns as our pace quickened. We glared deep into the fog, until a silhouette of a man came into vision. He was holding a sledgehammer and waved it around frantically. Around him was a pack of radroaches, hell-bent on getting food. The man crushed each one, screaming every time he took a swing. Me and Charon watched carefully as the man finally smashed the last radroach into a pile of yellow slime.

"Teach you mess with me!" he yelled in a deep voice. I smirked at the man's cockiness and lowered the Stealthshot. I looked at Charon and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Looks like we found us a scavenger," I said casually. Charon nodded and started to lower his shotgun. I looked back at the man and cupped a hand around my mouth to amplify my voice. "Hey buddy!" The man froze and perked up his head, listening for my voice again. "Over here!" The man turned and faced us as the wind began to pick up again. The wind buried the man in fog and he disappeared.

"Damn weather," Charon said quietly. I took a step forward as the wind died down again. A shape appeared in the fog, but something was wrong. The shape was getting larger and larger, very rapidly. I gasped and dropped to the ground as a sledgehammer came hurdling out of the fog and flew right over my head. It hit a concrete boulder behind me, sending shards of rock flying in all directions. I stared in disbelief at the sledgehammer and slowly got to my feet.

"What the hell is wrong with that guy?" I asked. Charon lifted his shotgun again and grunted.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a 'guy,'" he stated. I looked back at the fog and saw the shape of the man charging towards us. The shape began getting bigger, and bigger. Suddenly the man was eight feet tall and was still barreling towards us.

"Look out!" I screamed. The man burst from the fog and took a swing at Charon, knocking him backwards into a building on the street. The man was around eight feet tall with giant, bulging muscles. His skin was a dirty green color and looked like it was stretched taut across his body, and could tear at any moment. His lips were gone, so his teeth were bared, complimenting the anger in his beady, yellow eyes. He had a piece of armor across his shoulder and a tattered cloth for clothing. His sights changed to me and he clenched his fists.

"Tiny humans make me angry!" he shouted. "I not eat in weeks! You will be my first meal!" The giant man charged towards me as I gripped the Stealthshot. I lifted it and shot a round into the man's arm. He grabbed it and yelled, but continued running. Suddenly he was right on top of me. He lifted his fist and threw it down at my chest. I rolled to the side, hearing his fist hit the ground and crack the concrete behind me. I looked in front of me and saw the discarded sledgehammer lying before me. I quickly reached out and grabbed the wooden handle. I screamed and threw my arm into the air, swinging the hammer in an arch over me. The end of the hammer slammed into the man's face, sending teeth and blood flying from his mouth. He grabbed his mouth and shouted in pure agony. The giant figure hunched over and staggered around, trying to regain himself.

"Get up, Adain!" yelled Charon. He aimed his shotgun at the monster and shot him in the back of the knee. The giant man screamed again and fell to his stomach. He began rolling around, grabbing his knee, and letting blood slide through his fingers onto the concrete ground. I grabbed the Stealthshot off the ground and jumped to my feet. I walked up to the crying man and aimed my gun at his head. I squeezed the trigger and dropped my arm back to my hip. The man was lying, still and silent on the ground, a bullet-hole through his head. He almost seemed human to me… but I knew he wasn't.

"A supermutant," I said quietly, "I've never seen one in real life. I've only heard about them from my father and Franklin." Charon put away his shotgun and grunted, like he always did.

"Just be happy it was only one of 'em," he added. "These guys usually travel in packs of at least four. I can only blame this fog for why this one wandered so far from the group." The air suddenly became still, and I could hear faint noises in the distance. Footsteps, a whole group of them, trudging along the street further down from us, hidden in the fog.

"Maybe he didn't wander _too _far away," I added. I grabbed Charon and pulled him behind a piece of rubble with me. We watched as four more supermutants emerged from the fog and slowly marched towards their fallen brother. The first one in the group put up his hand and the others stopped.

"Looks like there's some sense of hierarchy in that group," Charon whispered to me. "That one is front looks like the leader." The leading supermutant did look different from the others. His skin was more brown than green, and his eyes were a pitch white, rather than a yellow. His neck had grown up and swallowed the back of his head, making him look less human than the others.

"Do you think they're actually mourning right now?" I asked. The group Overlord looked at the others behind him and nodded. Suddenly the supermutants descended on the body and began grabbing at it. They ripped away chunks of meat and flesh and stuffed them violently into their mouths. The blood from the fallen supermutant leaked between their teeth and dripped down their chests to the ground below. I rose up a little from my hiding spot for a better view, even though the sheer sight made me want to vomit . Charon grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back down.

"You suicidal, kid?" he asked me. We endured almost twenty minutes of the terrible noises coming from the group in the street. The tearing of flesh and muscle, the cracking of bone, and the horrible mushing sound of that raw meat and blood in their mouths rang in the air like bells. Finally the group got their fill and started to move out again. They trudged back down the street, letting their huge arms hang down by their sides. Once they disappeared from view, Charon and I stepped out of our hiding spot. Me approached the corpse, which was now a skeleton, blood soaked and covered with shredded pieces of flesh. The face remained intact and stared into the distance, blankly. Finally I turned around and dropped to my hands and knees, vomiting uncontrollably. When the waves stopped Charon knelt down next to me, hit me on the back, and sighed.

"Welcome to DC, kid."


	7. Brothers in Arms

Charon and I had been walking through DC for about a day. The sun was setting and it was only a matter of time before we'd be stumbling around DC in the dark. DC after sunset was not a safe place to be. Vision became extremely limited, and fires were out of the questions, for it was a beacon to any supermutants in the area. Other creatures like Yao-Guai and some of the feral dogs in the area became very active and aggressive at night. Without some kind of shelter, Charon and I would have to fight through that night, rather than rest.

Still, DC was something of a marvel to me. It was a foreign land I had never seen before, full of incredible buildings and structures. I had never seen such amazing triumphs of mankind before. All I could do was imagine a time when people walked these streets, filled with hope and pride, not terror and despair. A time when all these dilapidated and mold-infested buildings were swarmed with patriotic citizens that were simply happy being in the capital of our great nation. It saddened me, and hurt inside, that I would never see this city in its full glory.

"Do you think we could ever rebuild this city?" I asked Charon as we trudged down the street. "You know, make it the way it was?" Charon never took his eyes off the path but sighed as we walked.

"I wish we could, Wolfe," he replied. "I wish it were that simple. But, humanity just ain't what it used to be. All the mutations and diseases that have come about from the nuclear war have left mankind forever scarred with impurities. For people like you, maybe one day this city will be in its full glory again. But for people like me, the ghouls, the outcasts… this place will never welcome us. I'm a monster now, kid. I just recently came to accept it." Suddenly Charon put out his arm and held me back. He drew his shotgun and squatted down, to be stealthier. I followed and took out the Stealthshot.

"What's going on?" I asked quietly. Charon slowly moved to the sidewalk and crouched down behind a large piece of rubble.

"We got company," he replied. I looked into the distance and saw three giant men walk out onto the street in front of us. The trio of supermutants stood in a close group as they marched in our direction. One had a standard hunting rifle hanging by his side, another held a giant mini-gun with one arm, like it was nothing, and the third had a missile launcher hoisted over his shoulder.

"I know I heard something around here!" yelled one of the supermutants in that monotone voice.

"Don't try and hide from us!" yelled the second. Charon pushed me lower to the ground and held his gun tighter.

"Don't make any sudden moves," he whispered, "they're too well armed. We won't stand a chance." I nodded and leaned against the large piece of rubble we hid behind. But as my weight hit it, it shifted slightly. Suddenly dozens of smaller rocks sitting on top of it fell to the ground, sending shockwaves of sound down the street. When the crumbling stopped everything was completely silent, neither us, nor the supermutants made a sound. I watched Charon lift his shotgun and mutter under his breath.

"Shit." Suddenly a hailstorm of bullets came at our piece of rubble. Charon and I kneeled behind it, tight together, trying not to leave anything exposed. I could hear the supermutants screaming over the bullets in triumph. Suddenly an explosion occurred in the street next to us as the missile launcher made its first attack.

"What do you we do?" I yelled to Charon. He cocked his shotgun and peered out over the rock, but quickly ducked back down as bullets raided the area.

"We fight back," he replied, "that's all we can do." I nodded and peeked out over the side of the rock. The supermutant with the mini-gun, who did most of the firing, was reloading. I looked back and saw a pillar of a building not too far from where we were.

"I need a distraction," I said to Charon. "Could you make it to that pillar while they're reloading. When their attention is on you, I can snipe them." Charon looked at the pillar and then back at me. He sighed and got to his feet.

"Fuck you, kid," he muttered. He took off and dove for the pillar, bullets flew past him as he rolled behind the stone barrier. "God damnit!" he screamed. I watched him grab his leg in pain as blood trickled down between his fingers. I gulped and looked out over the rock. As planned the supermutants were concentrated fire on the pillar. I held my breath and aimed the Stealthshot. I aimed for the supermutant with the missile launcher as he took aim at Charon. I squeezed the trigger and the world slowed down. I watched the bullet sail out of the barrel and run to the supermutant. It went straight for where the mutant held the weapon. It slid through his right hand first, then his left, and then careened through his throat. The supermutant dropped the missile launched and grabbed his neck. He coughed a few times before falling to the ground and shaking until he suffocated.

"Bullseye!" I yelled. The other two supermutants looked at me and ground their teeth. I froze and fear as the giant mini-gun took aim at me. So many things went through my mind as the barrel began to spin. Charon, Flak, and my father all flashed before my eyes. However, just as the bullets were about to fly from the barrel, a huge explosion occurred in between the two supermutants, knocking me onto my backside. Rubble flew from the cracked street where they stood and chunks from their bodies scattered in all directions. What the hell just happened?

"Did you see that?" I asked Charon. I looked to my side and saw Charon lying behind the pillar with his hands gripped his left shin. I gasped and ran to his side. I knelt down next to him and put my hands on his arm.

"Get off me!" he yelled. "Believe me, I ain't dying yet!" I looked at his wound and reached into my carrying bag. It contained all my ammo, supplies, and meds. I pulled out a stimpak and took Charon's hand off his leg. I uncapped the needle and stuck it into the wound. Charon cringed at the pain and then slowly relaxed his face. He sighed and his body began to calm down.

"Without a medic your blood loss is going to be the biggest problem," I stated. "We have to find you help." Charon coughed and sat up.

"There ain't medical help for miles," he replied, "best just try and move on." I was about to respond when two shadows grew over us. I turned around and saw two heavily armored figures standing behind us. One had a large missile launcher over his shoulder. The other held a strange rectangular weapon in his hand. He aimed it at me and spoke through the filter on his helmet.

"Who are you and what is your purpose here?" he demanded. I found it hard to speak in front of these intimidated characters. I gulped and tried my best to respond.

"I… I'm Aiden Wolfe… from Arefu. This is Charon. We're trying to get to R… Rivet City and the Ranger Compound near it." The two soldiers looked at each other and lowered their weapons. The one with the missile launcher strapped his weapon to his back and walked towards Charon. The other helped me to my feet and brushed some dirt from my shoulder.

"You know we just saved your asses from those supermutants, right?" I gulped and slowly nodded. I was still healing from the adrenaline of seeing my life flash before my eyes. The soldier sighed and holstered his weapon. "My name is Paladin Rex, from the Brotherhood of Steel. Come with me, I'll take you back to our base."

"Uh, Rex," called the other soldier. "We got a ghoul over here. What's your call?" Rex turned away from us and started to walk into the street.

"Leave him," he replied. "As for you," he said to me, "you follow me." I looked back and forth between Rex and Charon. I shook my head and turned around.

"I'm not leaving Charon!" I yelled. Rex turned back and watched me kneel down next to Charon again. "He's not some monster! He saved my life more times than you can imagine!" I stood up and marched up to Rex. I pointed my finger into his chest and looked him straight in the helmet. "I'm not going anywhere without him!" Rex pushed my hand away and returned my stare. Finally he sighed and turned his head away.

"Fine," he said quietly, "help the ghoul up. We'll get him patched up when we get back to base." The second soldier kneeled down and picked up Charon. Charon forced himself away and stood on his feet.

"I'll take a shoulder with walking," he stated, "but I'm not a corpse. I don't need to be carried." The soldier nodded and draped Charon's arm over his shoulders. We followed Rex as he led us a short walk to the scarred remains of the Washington Monument.

"So you came all this way to try and find Reilly?" asked Rex. I nodded and took a sip of tea the brotherhood had prepared me and Charon. Charon's leg was well wrapped up and the brotherhood told him he'd be fine the next day. Rex offered to be our host for the night, and then we were on our own again the next day.

"Yeah," I replied. "I think she has some technology my father stashed away a while ago." Rex now had his helmet off, revealing his had a bald head and broad chin. A big piece of his right ear was missing, as was his right eyebrow. We were sitting at a table inside the Washington Monument. Charon was sleeping against a wall in the corner, not being the social type.

"What kind of technology?" he asked. I shrugged and took another sip of my tea.

"Not sure really," I replied. "But whatever it is, my father was afraid of it falling into the wrong hands." Rex nodded and stood up from the table, with his gun lying there before me. "That's some cool tech you have right there." Rex looked down at his gun and chuckled.

"That's my trusty laser rifle," he replied. "Standard issue in the Brotherhood of Steel."

"Awesome," I commented. Rex smiled and yawned loudly.

"Well you'd better get some rest," he stated. "Rivet city is about a twelve hour hike from here. You can rent a room there and spend the night, so long as you don't cause any trouble. Reilly's compound should only be about four hours from there. While you're in Rivet I' d stock up on supplies. They got a nice little thing going on that boat." I nodded and looked at Charon. I stood up and walked over to the wall. I leaned up against and got ready for a well deserved rest. But suddenly the entire building shook with a massive explosion. Charon woke up and I shot back to my feet. Another brotherhood soldier burst through the doors, trying to catch his breath.

"Paladin Rex!" he screamed. "The supermutants are attacking!" Rex grabbed his helmet and his gun off the table and ran to the soldier.

"What the hell kind of weapons are they using?" Rex demanded. The soldier shook his head and tried to find the words.

"It's… it's one of them. But it's… it's not. Like nothing I've ever seen. It's not a regular supermutant it's a… a…"

"For God's sake, spit it out soldier!" Rex yelled back.

"BEHEMOTH!"


	8. The Bigger They Are

Charon and I ran to the doors of the Washington Monument and gazed out over the battle-scarred ruins of DC. A gigantic cloud of smoke and dust covered the area before us, bathing the Capitol Building in darkness. Suddenly the cloud broke and the body of a Brotherhood member came careening out of the distance. He slammed into the wall next to the door and fell in a heap to the ground. His armor was cracked and broken with blood leaking out from his exposed skin. Rex ran to his side and rolled him onto his back.

"Soldier! What's going on?" Rex pulled the soldiers helmet off, exposing his bloodied face. The soldier's eyes were wide open as he gasped for air.

"We… we tried to stop it!" he yelled. "It stayed standing. No matter what we threw at it… it kept… it…" The soldier coughed and sputtered, then dropped his head to the side as blood leaked from his mouth. His eyes were still locked open in fear. Rex turned back to us and gripped his weapon tightly.

"I don't know what's out there," he started, "but you two aren't safe here anymore. Go around to the back of the monument and use this to blow a hole through the perimeter wall." Rex reached out his hand and gave me a tan disk with a bright red light in the center. "Just arm it with the red button in the middle, stick it on the wall, and throw something at it. It will trigger the explosion and you'll have a way out." I held the device tightly, looked at Charon, and then looked back at Rex.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, nervous. Rex sighed and fastened his helmet onto his shoulders.

"I'm going to fight," he replied. "The Brotherhood of Steel has a mission to protect this facility from the supermutants. I'm not going to let Lyons down." Rex walked up to the main entrance to the monument's stone perimeter and looked out over the field before him. Charon and I followed, staring at the wondrous, yet horrifying world before us. The ground was littered with pits, and trenches that sliced back and forth in front of the Capitol Building. Supermutants ducked up and down behind sandbag barriers, firing bullets and missiles in every direction.

"So where's this secret weapon?" asked Charon. Rex looked back and forth along the battlefield, until his eyes shot open and his stare locked on something in the distance. I turned my head to where he was staring, and too found myself stuck in a state of awe. An earsplitting roar filled the air as a massive figure appeared in the dust cloud in front of us. A Brotherhood soldier charged towards the dust, firing his weapon wildly at the creature. The giant figure lifted the massive club he wielded in his hand and raised it high above his head. He swung downwards at the soldier beneath him, flattening him into the dirt. A terrifying scream came from the soldier as he disappeared under the giant's massive hammer.

"What the hell is that thing?" asked Charon. I knew why it looked familiar. It looked extremely similar to the supermutant I saw leading the group in the streets. Only this one was gigantic, standing well over twenty feet tall. Its head was dwarfed by its gigantic neck, and its muscles were swallowing every part of its body. The behemoth was a dirty brown color, with bared teeth, and beady little white eyes. It held a massive club in one arm, which appeared to be a torn up fire hydrant, and a shield in the other, which seemed to be a car door ripped from its hinges. On the monster's back were shopping carts used as backpacks, two of which had live prisoners inside screaming for help.

"You've gotta be shittin me," whispered Rex. The Behemoth continued to pommel troops in the battlefield, each one screaming in agony as they were crushed by its power. The Behemoth lifted his club and took a swing at a soldier, flattening him against a car, and sending that car hurdling into the air. Rex grabbed Charon and I and tore us to the side. The car landed right at the entrance to the memorial in a flaming heap. We looked at the debris is shock, how could we stop this thing.

"What do we do?" I asked, nervously.

"We don't do anything! _I'm _going to stop this thing!" replied Rex. He gripped his laser rifle and ran out of the front gate.

"Rex!" I yelled after him. I quickly stood up and ran to the gateway. I watched as Rex ran into the battlefield, firing round after round into the Behemoth's face. The monster shook his head around in pain as he searched for the creator of his agony. His eyes fell on Rex and he let out a loud roar. The Behemoth began charging towards Rex, closing a distance of 200 yards in a few seconds. He lifted his club into the air and took a swing at Rex. Rex quickly ducked underneath and tried to regain his balance for another assault. The Behemoth thought quickly and threw his leg forward, kicking Rex like a football. Rex went careening through the air and slammed into a building. The walls behind him cracked from the impact, though his armor absorbed most of the blow.

"The Behemoth is too fast," stated Charon. "We'll never be able to take him down if he can catch up to us." I stared into the battlefield, and then looked down at the mine Rex had given me. I turned to the destroyed car behind us and watched the remaining gasoline in its tank drip down onto the ground. I looked up at Charon and gripped the landmine.

"I've got an idea," I said quietly. I ran down into the battlefield, Charon close behind me. I charged up to an old parked car and knelt down in front of it. I pulled out the landmine and pressed the red button on top. It turned green and I slid it in front of the car. Charon and I backed away as the light on the mine switched from green to red. I took a deep breath and pulled the Stealthshot out of its holster. The Behemoth was gearing up for another attack on Rex, one I knew he wouldn't survive. I held up the Stealthshot and took aim. I squeezed the trigger and watched as the bullet sailed in slow motion and buried itself deep in the Behemoth's shoulder. It screamed in pain and turned to Charon and I. The beast took off in our direction, tightly gripping the club in its hand.

"Are you guys insane!" yelled Rex as he stood up again. "Run! Get the hell out of there!" I held my ground and squared off with the charging Behemoth.

"Aiden," Charon called quietly. I held my ground as sweat began pouring from my forehead. "Aiden!" called Charon, a little louder. The Behemoth was closing the gap. Getting closer and closer. "Aiden!" Charon screamed. "Let's go!" The Behemoth was only about 50 feet from us when a small beep broke the air around us. I held my breath as the landmine triggered under the Behemoth's foot. The gasoline in the car ignited with the explosion and morphed into an enormous cloud of smoke and fire. The Behemoth cried out in pain and went toppling to the ground. His left leg took most of the damage and tore from his body, flying into the air and landing far from the rest of his enormous self. The Behemoth's club slid from his hand and skidded across the ground. The behemoth's body shook the Earth when it crashed onto the pavement, and the asphalt below him cracked like ice. The fallen beast desperately tried to crawl to his weapon, but to no avail.

Rex approached the giant's body, but not wielding his laser rifle. Instead he held a fully loaded missile launcher in his arms. He hoisted it over his shoulder and took aim. He squeezed the trigger and shot a missile directly into the Behemoth's forehead. The cranium of the monster exploded into the wave of blood and shattered bone. Its body fell limp and dropped to the cold pavement below it. Rex dropped the missile launcher to the ground next to him and sighed.

"What is this world coming to?" he asked, desperately, "when mutations have gone from making people sick… to turning them into these." Charon and I approached the body and examined the incredible creature before us. The captured victims on his back unfortunately didn't survive the explosion, and sadly they were only two of the many causalities in this fight.

"Rex," I started, "you've won this battle. Chances are, the Brotherhood… the human race, will win the war." Rex nodded and pulled off his helmet. He turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I thank you Aiden for your aid in this battle," he said softly. "Without you we would have lost everything. Without you I would be dead. Your valor and quick thinking has earned you trust within the Brotherhood. I'll be sure to report your actions to Eldor Lyons. He will be extremely pleased with your work today. Might I ask that you and Charon stay with us at the Washington Monument?" I nodded and turned to Charon.

"Thank you, Rex," I replied. "However, we can't stay here. I have to get to Reilly's Compound and find my father. Plus I have a promise to keep." Charon looked up as I pointed behind him. Charon turned and saw a large building to the west. It was highly decorated and had a large staircase in front of it, leading to a metro tunnel. "There it is, Charon. The Museum of History. I suppose this is where you get off." Charon stared at the museum, but didn't move. He turned back to me and shook his head.

"I believe the agreement was, I help you find Flak and Reilly, and then we go here," he stated. "I will stay with you until you reach your destination." I nodded and smiled at Charon. I turned back to Rex who nodded in understanding. Charon and I walked away from the fallen Behemoth, and the battle-scarred wasteland that was the Washington Monument. We were close, close to Rivet City, close to Reilly's Compound… and closer to my father.


	9. The Beautiful Rivet City

I knew we were close to Rivet City. The taste of salt water was in the air, and the sound of waves crashing against the beach was echoing in the distance. As Charon and I approached what seemed like the edge of the world, a giant dark shadow emerged from the haze. A rusty, broken, forsaken oil tanker appeared from the fog and hung menacingly in the dim air. The old bell of the ship rang out in the distance, shaking gravel from its place on the rocks next to us.

"So this is where we can find Flak?" asked Charon. I took a deep breath as my image of the beautiful utopia I thought was Rivet City shattered before my eyes. I began walking towards the discarded ship wondering how this rusty old tub had built up such a beautiful reputation. Each step I took sent a small cloud of dust into the foggy air. Around us were dilapidated buildings surrounded in barbed wire. The area seemed lifeless, until a small silhouette appeared in front of the boat. It was walking towards us, but not at us. I braced for a supermutant, until the shape became a clear human. The man had shaggy brown hair and wore a leather-armored outfit. Hanging by his side was a sawed-off shotgun, but the man seemed to have no intention of using it.

"Well would you look at that," he said in a deep voice, "we got some newcomers to Rivet City." Charon and I stayed silent. The man smiled and pulled out a cigarette. "Not the talking type, huh? That's probably for the best around these parts."

"We're looking for someone," I stated. The man smiled as he lit the cigarette and gave it a first puff.

"Well then chances are they're floating around here," he replied. "Check out the marketplace, just keep your hands to yourselves and don't start anything. You're gunna wanna have a quick chat with Danvers as well, so they know you're not up to any trouble." I nodded and continued towards the city. Then I stopped and turned back to the man.

"Where are you going?" I asked. "I thought this place was paradise." The man started laughing and threw his cigarette onto the ground, not bothering to stamp it out.

"This place sure as hell aint paradise, kid," he replied. "But it's the closest thing you're gunna find out here in this godforsaken wasteland. The only reason it's so safe is because everyone's armed in there. You have me to thank for that. That's why I'm leaving, need more supplies for my ammo shop." I nodded and began my journey to the boat once again. "Name's Shrapnel!" was yelled from behind me. I looked back and smiled.

"Aidan and Charon!" I yelled back.

We approached the ship and reached a giant metal ramp. We climbed the ramp one step at a time until finally reaching the top. At the top was a long metal bridge that led to the ship. However, instead of a warm welcoming party, we were greeted by a shouting man at the front gate. He was storming away from Rivet City, shaking his fists in anger while he shouted. He had fiery red hair and a dirty white shirt above of his brown pants.

"I swear there are places for people like me! You'll see! You'll all see! I'm not a freak! I'm a fucking godsend!" The man was glaring back at Rivet City as he marched, not watching where he was going. He ended up walking straight into me, jumping as he did.

"Woah, woah," I started, "what's going on?" The man brushed himself off and regained his posture.

"This place is full of prejudice bastards is what's going on!" he replied. "So I've spent some years out there in the wastes, big deal. The radiation out there must have mutated me a little bit. I need radiation, or I get all moody. They got a perfectly good room in there that gets radiated from the ship's reactor core. I could've lived there. They said they could cure me with Rad-X and such… but it's no good. No drugs in there affect me. Now they all call me a weirdo and say I'm losing my mind. But I'm not! I'm not God damn it!" I slowly turned my head and looked at Charon, who in turn looked up into the sky, showing me he wanted nothing to do with this guy.

"Look, we're just passing through…"

"I don't care what you're doing here! Eventually you'll end up like them! You both will! I'm going to find somewhere with enough radiation to keep me alive forever! I'll come back here when they're all old and withered, just to laugh at them! There's a vault west of DC that I know has enough radiation for me. You'll see! You'll all hear of the immortal Sid!" The man stormed away from us, still screaming into the sky as he trudged down the ramp.

"This place certainly has its characters," Charon commented. I sighed and started walking down the bridge to Rivet City. The bridge shook under my feet with each step. I questioned the bridge's stability and reliability, but it was too late now. We finally reached the end, but once again we weren't exactly greeted with a feast and flowers. Instead I had the barrel of an assault rifle shoved in my face. A woman with short blonde hair and leather armor was holding the weapon. Behind her was a short man with a broad chin and a large scar across his forehead. He also had a set of stitches on his neck under his jaw.

"My name is Commander Danvers," she stated, "and this is my new initiate, Harkness. What is your business in Rivet City? We don't want any trouble here. So if you're here to cause trouble you should just turn your ass around and go back where you came from."

"Hang on," I started, "we're just here to do some trading and get some supplies. We're on our way to see Reilly from Reilly's Rangers. Just let me find my friend who stays here and I'll be on my way." Danvers looked at Harkness and then lowered her weapon.

"Marketplace is straight through this door here," she said as she pointed at a door across the platform. "If you want to stay overnight you should talk to Vera Weatherly in the upper decks. If you're poor just head to the common room on the hangar deck. Sorry about the rude welcoming, but we can't be too careful out here. A few days ago a couple of wastelanders came into the city and murdered Penelope Lopez and her baby boy. The father is heart-broken."

"Understood," I replied, "you wont get any trouble from us." Charon and I approached the door and gripped the handle. I turned the wheel and shoved the door open. Inside was a giant room full of small shops and tons of people walking and trading amongst them.

"I'm going to stay here by the door," muttered Charon. "Don't do anything stupid down there." I nodded and walked down the stairs. A man with short hair and dark skin stood up and waved a hand at me.

"Excuse me, sir!" he yelled. "You look like you could use some new clothing. I have just the thing. My name is Bannon, and this is Potonic Attire, best damn clothing shop anywhere." I walked up to him and looked at the clothes pinned up on the walls.

"Very nice selection, but I'm actually looking for someone, not something," I stated. Bannon seemed confused, but then folded his arms and nodded.

"Well then chances are I know them, I know just about everyone on this tub," he replied.

"Well, I'm looking for my old friend. His name is Franklin Woods." Bannon, thought for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, kid, aint got a Franklin Woods down here. Maybe he's come and gone." I quickly thought back to the last time I saw Franklin and then caught Bannon before he turned away.

"Wait, wait. He told me to ask for Flak if I ever got down here," I yelled out.

"Flak?" asked a voice from behind. I turned and saw a tall man with a shaved head and long moustache. I'd know that face anywhere. It was him. It was Franklin. "My name's Flak. Co-owner of Flak and Shrapnel's. It's Rivet City's premier weapons dealer. You need guns, ammo, or some repairs, you're in the right place."

"Frank!" I yelled out. "It's really you! I found you!" Flak ran up and grabbed me, putting his hand over my mouth.

"Quiet down, kid," he said quietly into my ear. "You can't be saying that name out loud around here. Word gets out that I'm Franklin Woods and they'll be down here from Paradise Falls in a heatbeat." He uncovered my mouth and stepped back. "Now who the hell are you and how do you know my real name?"

"Flak," I started, getting used to the name, "it's me, Aidan. You used to come up to my house near Arefu all the time. My father was Maximus." Flak's eyes shot open and he reached out and grabbed my shoulders.

"Aidan? It's really you? My God you're finally out of that house! My God you look so different from the last time I saw you… but… but what are you doing here? Where's your father?"

"That's why I'm here, Flak. My father's been taken by the Enclave and Colonel Autumn. I don't know what they want with him, but I have a feeling it has something to do with something he found many years ago with Reilly from Reilly's Rangers. I need to get to her, maybe she can help." Flak took his hands off me and then turned to his shop. He grabbed a 10mm pistol from a shelf in his shop and holstered it by his belt.

"I'm going with you," he said quietly. "I'm not letting someone get away with taking one of my good friends." He began grabbing ammo, when he stopped and sighed. "Wait, wait. I can't leave this place. I can't leave Shrapnel behind again." Flak put his gun down on the counter and wiped his forehead. He looked at me and then ran to a cupboard in his shop. He tore it open and pulled out a large weapon. It had a long barrel and was a dark black color, painted with red and blue.

"What the hell is that?" I asked. He grabbed a small crate labeled '305,' and handed it to me.

"Just because I can't go with you, doesn't mean I can't help," he replied. "Listen, you wouldn't understand why I can't leave here. Me and Shrapnel, we're always there for each other."

"Is this 'just a friend' kind of thing… or…?" I began. Flak didn't answer and handed me the weapon.

"This is the best damn sniper rifle anywhere," he stated, "me and Shrapnel built it ourselves. It's the most accurate gun in the wasteland, so use it well. Since it's never failed us before, we named it the Victory Rifle." I took the Victory Rifle and holstered it across my back. I walked towards Flak and hugged him.

"I will get my father back," I told him. He nodded and hugged me back. We parted and I walked back towards Charon.

"Are we ready, Aidan?" he asked. I presented him a box of shotgun shells Flak had given me and headed for the door.

"Yeah," I replied. "Let's go find Reilly."


	10. The Dreamers

I threw open the door to Rivet City. Danvers had gone down to the other side of the bridge, no doubt dealing with someone else trying to enter the city. I made sure the strap holding the Victory Rifle to my back was secured and the .308 caliber rounds were secure inside the crate strapped to my belt. However, as I was doing so, I heard something drop to the ground behind me. I turned to check and saw the Stealthshot lying on the bridge at my feet. I bent down and picked it up.

"Don't worry," I whispered to it, "you're still the best gun ever." I reholstered the weapon and began to stand again. I saw Charon's knees appear in my line of sight and looked up to his face.

"If you're finished talking to the weaponry," he stated, "we should get moving." I chuckled and stood up. I tuned around and began walking, but instead barreled straight into a person heading into Rivet City. We stepped away from each other and the man put a hand on his head. He had gray hair and a goatee, and wore a blue outfit that I'd never seen before. Something else abnormal about him was his sleeves that were rolled all the way down, despite it being blisteringly hot out, like he was hiding something on his arm.

"I'm sorry," I said the man as I regained my balance. "I wasn't watching where I was going." The man smiled and straightened his posture.

"No worries young man," he replied, "I've made it to Rivet City. I little bump on the head isn't going to spoil this moment for me." I smiled and nodded to the man.

"Good to see someone out here has a somewhat optimistic attitude. Everyone I've met is either constantly scared or paranoid. Or angry like my friend Charon here."

"Damn straight," Charon commented.

"Well they have a right to be that way," the man continued. "In this world plagued with disease and radiation, no one is safe. That's exactly why I'm here." Puzzled, I turned to Charon, who shrugged.

"What exactly are you suggesting?" I asked. The man folded his arms and shook his head.

"It's a radical idea," he stated, "the benefits of which are inconceivable. People tell me there's no chance… but I still have a small glimmer of hope that the Capital Wasteland can be saved. Unfortunately, that's all I can tell you. I can't let others be trusted with this kind of information. You've heard too much already." I nodded and got ready to leave.

"I understand. I'm on a mission myself. You see, my father was kidnapped from my home by the Enclave. I think they want something he discovered in the Wasteland years before I was born. I need to go find Reilly from Reilly's Rangers. She may be the only one that can help me save him." The man nodded and put a hand on my shoulder.

"If I were hard-pressed for time, I would gladly join you. I have a son of my own. He, however, is still back where he belongs. You know… he was born here. A wastelander, like us all. Although he thinks is was born purely. As soon as I got the chance, I put ourselves into the Vault-tec program, and had us locked away in Vault 101. He believes that is his birthplace."

"That's terrible," I yelled in disgust. "You lied to your own son about where he was born? Where he was from?" The man closed his eyes and nodded solemnly.

"I know. It haunts me every night. It was for his own good. If he had known that the Wasteland was a survivable place he would have come after me when I left the vault. It's better if he stays there. I know I'll see him again one day." I sighed and motioned Charon to follow me.

"I hope you can make this place better for everyone," I said quietly. "Do me a favor. When you finish with all of your work, go back to that vault. Tell him the truth… and tell him I said that his father loves him. Tell him not to be upset about the lies… I wasn't when my father told the truth. Now I'm off to find my father… and for all you know… maybe your son is off to find you." The man wiped a tear from his eye and got ready to enter Rivet City.

"I wish I had something to give you," the man said to me. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small, black pool-ball. He reached out and handed it to me.

"What's this?"

"It's a gift, from my wife, before she passed away. It was her lucky-8-ball. It's always given me good luck, and now I'm here in Rivet City. Maybe it's time for someone else who's down on their luck to have it." I smiled and put out my hand. We shook and stared into each others eyes.

"My name is Aidan Wolfe," I said quietly. "I'm a son looking to find my father." The man smiled back at me and laughed a little.

"My name is James," he returned, "and I'm a father… looking to make a better life for my son." I nodded to him one last time and then turned to the bridge. I walked down towards the ramp and heard the entrance to Rivet City close behind me. I put the 8-ball into the case with my rounds and continued down the ramp.

"You don't really believe in luck, do you?" asked Charon. I snickered and waved to Harkness as I walked away from the ramp.

"What do I have to lose?" I asked. "Hey, with this new sniper, I could sure as hell use a little extra luck now and then."

"Well… I hope you feel lucky," he replied quietly, "cause we got a wanderer up ahead. No indication of whether he's hostile or not." I too saw the man appear out of the fog. He was kneeling down and leaning over something on the ground. I unholstered the Stealthshot as I got closer to the man. His arms were quickly working away as some contraption laying at his feet. As Charon and I got behind him a rock shifted at our feet, causing the man to jump and turn towards us. He held a combat knife tightly in his hand and aimed it straight at us. The man had a bandana on and some old, dirty leather armor. He twitched back and forth and continued to wave the knife at Charon and I.

"Who… who are you people?" he asked viciously. "What… what do you want? Are you here to steal my inventions… or just mock me like everyone else?"

"Woah, calm down," I replied, "we're not here to steal anything. We're just passing by." The man still held up his night and twitched back and forth.

"If I find out you two are with them… I swear… I'll… I'll… I don't know… but you'll get it!" he yelled. I got a look at what was on the ground behind him, which only confused me more. Behind him was a steam gauge assembly, along with some other random parts. The really noticeable thing was the pile of railroad spikes laying around his feet.

"Got a little project going on, huh?" asked Charon, mockingly. The man clenched his fist and lifted his knife. Charon replied by pulling his shotgun off his back and holding it tightly in his hands. The man thought for a moment, then lowered his knife to his hip.

"This is my life's work," he said quietly. "A weapon made from parts that even the stranded wastelander can find on his travels. It fires railroad spikes, and uses steam to power them." I started to chuckle and looked at Charon, who too was on the verge of cracking up.

"Well good luck with that," I replied.

"See!" he screamed. "You're just like them! All you do is mock me! Well I'll show you! When this weapon is complete I'll search this entire wasteland for you! I'll kill anyone who even looks at me funny! You hear me? You won't be laughing when Lazlo Redford is blasting away your body parts!" I started laughing harder and turned away from Lazlo. Charon began laughing with me as we continued on our path.

"Oh, man!" yelled Charon, "what a moron. You know, you'll find some crazy people around these places." We continued to wander along a sidewalk and eventually reached a cement wall. Luckily there was a hole punched in the wall that we could easily walk through. In front of us was an old broken down building with a seemingly accessible door.

"Hahaha!" I continued to laugh. "This place will never cease to amaze me. I mean, who knows what other weirdoes we'll stumble on out here." I turned to Charon who was frozen in his position. I turned my head to where he was staring and slowly raised my hands into the air. Six armed soldiers stood at the ready with guns aimed at our heads. A woman walked in front of them and pointed her pistol directly between my eyes.

"For trespassing on private property," she started, "you two are hereby under arrest under the authority of Reilly's Rangers."


	11. A New Mission

"Who are you two?" demanded Reilly. "Are you with Talon Company? Huh? You're in out jurisdiction now, so try anything and you'll never leave this place in one piece." Charon and I kept our hands over our heads, for me it was mostly out of shock. Here I was, held at gunpoint, about to be executed unless I found a way to talk my way out of it. Yet… I was looking at her. It was Reilly… the woman my father met years before I was born. She was the one I'd been searching for.

Reilly walked up to Charon, who I noticed had a small smile across his face. She put on an angry expression and got only inches from Charon's face.

"Something funny here?" she yelled out. Charon still kept the smile on his face as he lowered his arms. Reilly pointed the gun at him and put her finger on the trigger. "What makes you think I wont shoot you?" Charon folded his arms and leaned onto one leg.

"Because you're Reilly's Rangers," he replied. "Sworn to protect the wastelanders and not give into violence as easily as the Talons." Reilly thought for a moment before lowering her weapon. Her eyes turned to me, and then shot open. She ran up to me and stared at my chest. I looked down at my armor and saw the Reilly's Rangers' symbol on it. I looked back up her as she began to raise her weapon again.

"Where did you get that armor?" she yelled. "Did you kill one of us? Huh? Stole it from them?" She aimed the gun right at my forehead and got ready to open fire before I put out my hands.

"Wait, wait!" I yelled. "My name is Aiden. I…"

"I don't care who you are!" she yelled back. "You have the armor of a ranger, and those are only distributed to recognized Rangers. The only way to obtain it is to earn it or murder a ranger. So now you're going to pay! You and your smiling ghoul-friend!"

"My father is Maximus Wolfe!" I screamed. Reilly still held the gun to my head, but slightly turned it and stopped her shouting. Her voice became very quiet as she shot me a curious and wondrous glance.

"What did you just say?" she asked softly.

"My father," I replied. "His name is Maximus Wolfe. You two met out in the Wasteland years ago. He says you met when you two found…"

"The wreckage," she finished. "Your father was Maximus… that's his armor you're wearing?" I nodded as she examined me more closely. Her eyes fell upon my weapon and she dropped her pistol to the ground. "Is that… the Stealthshot?" I nodded again as Reilly lifted her arm into the air. "Lower your weapons," she ordered. The other soldiers quickly lowered their weapons and stood at attention.

"I've been searching for you, Reilly," I stated. "My father. He's in trouble." A look of terror came across her face and she stepped closer to me.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"The enclave," replied Charon. "That's what happened."

"That's right," I added. "They took him, looking for some technology my father didn't think they were ready for. I think is has something to do with whatever you two found. If I can just get it I can get him back." Reilly was silent, before letting out a loud sigh.

"Men," she started, talking to her soldiers. "Return to the base. I'll be in shortly." The other soldiers put away their weapons and went to a door in the dilapidated building across the way. When they were gone Reilly looked into my eyes, thinking deeply. "Your father was not open about this discovery. I'm shocked he even told you. He didn't lock it away for future use. He locked it away so it would stay locked away… forever."

"But he told me he had it locked away until humanity was ready for it," I replied.

"Look," Reilly started, "your father was excellent with designing and programming weaponry. He fortified that room with around 50 different auto-targeting turrets. The ground is covered with pressure triggered explosives… and even if you manage to pass all of those defenses… a specialized series of explosives called mininukes are set up around the wreckage. They will trigger, destroying everything in the room, including the wreckage itself." I took in the information… which wasn't easy considering it was saying that there was no way to get to the technology.

"So my father locked it away forever?" I asked worried. "There's no way to ever get to it?" I knew Reilly could see the distress in my eyes, and I knew she wanted to help. She sighed and looked at Charon, probably wondering if she could trust him. She looked back at me and I nodded in his approval. Reilly got closer to me and whispered very quietly under her breath.

"You're father made a key for the door," she revealed. "Once you use it, all the defense grids will shut down, and the door will open. However, he only made one, and stashed it away somewhere he knew it'd be safe."

"Well I need it!" I shouted. "Where is this key? I need to get that technology and get him back!"

"I don't know!" she yelled back. "You don't understand! Your father cared so much about this discovery… he didn't even tell me where the key was." My heart sank. My last chance as finding my father had just gone up in smoke. "However," Reilly started again, "he did give me a clue to where he hid it. He told me to understand where the key was hidden… you would first need to understand his past. He told me the key lies in the place he first lived. I, myself, know nothing about his life before we met." I thought for a moment, but it was strange. Everything I had known about my father had been thrown away only a few weeks ago, and replaced with new truths. I thought back to what he told me on the way to Arefu for the first time. About where he used to live… and that's when I realized.

"I know where the key is!" I yelled, in excitement. "Where he first lived. My father first lived in a settlement to the northeast… called Old Olney. He said the people there were being killed… and he fled. He must've returned and hid the key in his old home." I looked at Charon and then looked away.

"What is it, Aiden?" he asked. I sighed and then smiled.

"Charon," I started, "you've done so much for me. But now… you've fulfilled your half of the bargain. You've helped me find Franklin and Reilly. Therefore, I will now help you get to Underworld." Reilly put a hand on my shoulder, holding me back from leaving.

"You're walking to Old Olney?" she asked. "Not on my watch. We got something here at the base that might help you out. It's an old broken Enclave helicopter that we found and restored. I'll fly you there in a fraction of the time."

"HAHAHAHAHA! Ain't gunna be worth it in the end!" yelled a voice from behind us. We turned and saw a man standing in the hole in the wall that we originally entered through. The man was wearing a long trenchcoat and had a long, shaggy white beard. "You'll be flying straight into a deathtrap!"

"Who are you, and why should I let you live?" demanded Reilly. The man began cackling again and leaned against the wall.

"I'm just a humbled traveler who overheard something about Old Olney." I pushed Charon aside, in order to better see this man.

"You've been there." The man smiled and nodded.

"Just returned from a trip around the wasteland, mapping out important locations," he replied. "I've been up there, but damned if I didn't get out of there as soon as possible."

"Why?" asked Charon. The man put on a solemn face and looked deep into Charon's eyes.

"There be a hole straight into hell up there," he said quietly. "Demons came through it… and now their wandering around Old Olney. Saw one myself, yes I did. Twenty feet tall it was, devilish horns on its head, teeth as sharp as razors, and claws… claws like steak knives. If you go up there, don't expect to be coming back. No one that's gone by those parts has ever returned."

"Well I'm not afraid!" I yelled at him. I turned to Reilly and pointed at her chest. "When I return after helping Charon, you're taking me up to Old Olney." Charon came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Aiden," he started, "you and me have had quite the adventure. However, it's time to save your father. I'll be fine on my own. You go to Old Olney and find that key. If you ever need my help, you know where I'll be." I nodded to him and turned to Reilly. "Let's go." Reilly nodded and turned to yell at the man. However when we turned to see him… he was gone.


	12. The Dark Past of Old Olney

The wind was blowing my hair backwards as I hung my head out of the side of the helicopter. I watched the rugged terrain of the Capital Wasteland rolling past me as Reilly and I flew to Old Olney. I stared into the distance, praying a town would break the horizon. The sooner I could get into this town, the sooner I could find the key, and the sooner I could get the technology… to get my father back. I saw Yao Guai roaming the dust covered dunes with their young, wild dogs running about and playing with one another, and mole rats shuffling across the dirt in search for food. For a moment, I stared at the creatures and wondered. All my life I knew this world as a chasm of destruction and death, and nothing more than a mere shell of what it used to be. However, as I watched the beautiful shapes that passed by underneath me, the animals that have adapted to this harsh wasteland, and the people that looked up at the helicopter in amazement, I realized that humanity had hope. The world itself had hope. There was a hope to rebuild, and a hope to restore our planet to its rightful glory. As these thoughts crossed my mind, I looked up into the sky, wondering if somewhere out there another race was settled on their homeworld, staring down at us. Cheering us on and waiting for us to pull through this.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" I called out to Reilly over the wind. She turned her head to me, somewhat intrigued.

"What's incredible?" she asked. "We've had copters for years. They're nothing special, you know." I smiled and looked out the side of the helicopter again.

"I mean the Wasteland," I replied. "Have you ever stopped, looked, and just imagined what it was like. You know, before the bombs fell. This place was once glorious, and teeming with life and vegetation. I think it's just incredible that even when it was reduced to this dust covered, forsaken place… life still found a way to survive." Reilly kept a straight face and continued flying in our intended direction.

"Well we're getting close to your drop-off point," she stated, "so you'd better hope that the life that's magically found a way to survive doesn't survive off of you." The helicopter began to slow in the dust-filled sky and slowly descended to the ground. I started out the window as a circle of dust and dirt formed underneath us and slowly ran away as we neared the Earth. We landed with a slight thud and I slid open the door on the bottom of the helicopter. I looked back at Reilly and gave a small salute.

"I'll come see you once I have the key," I stated. She nodded and turned back to the controls. I thought for a moment about the journey ahead. There wasn't enough fuel in Reilly's compound to get the helicopter up to Old Olney and back again. Therefore, my mission was to get the key and then find my way south to a town called Canteberry Commons. The traders that went by Arefu back when I was a child used to tell me about Canteberry Comons, saying it was a paradise.

"Goodbye, Aiden!" Reilly shouted over the rotors. I jumped through the hole in the floor and landed on the soft sand below. I ran out from under the helicopter and got a safe distance away. The propeller spun faster and the huge, metal machine lifted into the air. I could see Reilly staring at me behind the glass as the helicopter turned away from me in midair and flew away into the distant clouds.

"Goodbye Reilly," I said softly. I turned around, examining where I was. Around me were destroyed, wooden frames of old buildings. A town once stood where I was standing, and even remnants of the mailboxes were still visible. Near the town was a large bridge, like the one Arefu was situated on top. It reminded me of home, but I knew that home was far, far away.

I walked to the top of a large hill in front of me to better understand my position. Suddenly, my journey seemed less perilous. Less than a mile away in the distance I could see buildings. Large houses and markets, all were broken down and covered with dirt and mold. It was an abandoned town that seemed to once be teeming with citizens. I knew what it was. It was Old Olney.

I couldn't contain my excitement anymore. I leapt from the top of the hill and began sprinting towards the city. I knew that I was so close to my father, so close to finally getting him back. Suddenly, my foot got caught up and I trip, falling flat on my face. I got a mouthful of dirt and dust and a deep pain in my chest from the impact. I slowly pushed myself up and spit the contents of my mouth back onto the ground. I turned over and sat down, looking for what made me trip. However, when I saw it… I froze. Could it possibly be real? Maybe it was just a joke by someone with a cruel sense of humor, or some kind of Raider trick. It was a hole in the ground, maybe three or four feet in length, and more than a foot across. Three large digit-shaped holes were protruding from the main hole, with sharp points on the end. This wasn't just a hole in the ground… this was a footprint. I simply stared in disbelief. There was no way this could be real. It simply couldn't be possible. The only thing I knew that could be that large was that behemoth Supermuatant back at the Washington monument. But there was no way there were any more of those.

"It's not real," I said to myself. "It's a joke… a trick." I looked at Old Olney, with much more fear and dread than I had just a few moments ago. Whether or not it was a joke, it meant something here in Old Olney was alive. Not only was it alive… it was either very intelligent… or very big. As all these thoughts assaulted my mind I continued walking towards the forsaken city. Eventually dirt and weeds gave way to pavements and cobblestone. Buildings began leaning over me and I had to work my way around giant pieces of rubble. The streets were barren and empty. The stores were all boarded up and their windows were brown with dust. The occasional crow or vulture would swoop across the sky between the buildings, casting a shadow on the ground in front of me and making me grab hold of the Stealthshot.

"Keep it together, Aiden," I whispered to myself. "There's nothing here. Just an old city, filled with dust. I turned onto a side street, staring at the houses that lined the sidewalks. I examined the name on each mailbox as a passed, until the name 'Wolfe' was written on the ninth house down. The house was a small, one story house, painted a neutral tan. There was a white, picket fence around the house and the remnants of the lawn were no more than black bristles sticking out of the ground. I squeaked open the gate and walked up to the front door of the house. I pulled out the Stealthshot and switched on my light. I slowly reached out, turned the doorknob, and let the door fall open into the silent room. The light poured into the dark room, made extremely visible by the floating dust in the air. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and dust covered bookshelves sported burned and tattered novels. I walked into the house and closely examined the room. My light scanned the bookshelves, searching for anything that may be a key.

"Where the hell is it?" I asked myself. My light traveled up the bookshelf and fell upon a picture frame. The photo itself was covered in dust, obscuring the image. I slowly reached out and picked up the frame. I held it in front of me and blew away the dust. The photograph was an old one, set in front of the very house I was standing in. A young boy was in the center of the frame, a boy who looked incredibly similar to me. Behind him were his parents. A strong looking father with a thin white moustache and shaggy gray hair, and a beautiful mother with scarlet red hair set up in a bun. I knew what this was. It was my grandparents… and my father. They all looked so happy together. I put the frame down and unlatched the back. I knew once I found my father, he would want to see this. Surprisingly, this was the most confidence I had felt about my father in a long time.

"This photograph will get to you," I said quietly. "I know you would cherish it." I slid off the back cover of the frame and set it aside. I aimed my light at the photo so I could remove it from the frame, when it reflected back into my eyes. I stared down at the frame, but more importantly, the white case that sat behind the picture. I lifted it and closely examined it. I knew what it was. It was an old holotape. My father used to play music on them back in our house. I also knew how to use it. I switched it on and clicked the small blue button on top. A voice rang out, filling the room around me.

"If you're listening to this… and aren't myself, you are holding one of the most important data files ever. A few months ago, I discovered something out in the wasteland with a woman named Reilly. We swore it to secrecy until we felt mankind was ready for its discovery. I had it locked away, deep inside a vault in Reilly's newly built compound. The room is filled with defenses that will kill anyone who enters, and destroy the wreckage itself. The only way to get inside is to activate the old computer terminal inside a cavern next to my new home. It's called Hamilton's Hideaway. Once you activate the terminal, it will ask you for a password. Type in the name MAXIMUS. Then you need to go to the second terminal, located in the Museum of History. It is hidden inside a safe underneath the statue of a wooly mammoth. All you need to do is use the key Reilly has to open the safe, and then type the word REILLY into the computer. The final computer is located just outside Reilly's compound. The password is what my girlfriend and I decided to… oh shit… they're back. Take good care of the wreckage. [Roaring in background] Please, keep it safe. Don't let them get you, too." I stared in disbelief at the holotape, thinking deeply about what my father went through to keep this wreckage safe. It was then that I decided I could not just give the Enclave this technology. There had to be another way.

"I know what you want, father," I said to myself. "I won't give the Enclave the wreckage." I looked up and sighed. "But to understand where they took you, and what they want… I need to know what you're hiding." I packed away the holotape as the room faded into the darkness of night. I turned around and watched as the sun disappeared below the horizon. A could hear a dark barking in the distance, probably calling its pack. I decided I might as well spend the night in the house. It would be safer during the day. Suddenly the dog's bark turned into a whimper, which was abruptly cut off. I turned the window and looked out onto the darkened town. I reached onto my back and unhooked the Victory Rifle. I aimed it out onto the streets, searching for the cause of the noises. Suddenly a dark shadow shot across the streets, faster than I could indentify what it was. I searched back and forth until my vision fell on a group of figures in the distance. There was about three of them, hunched over something on the ground. They looked like people, but seemed a lot larger. Then I watched as the stood up and disappeared in a flash. Something was out there… something different. The thought of the footprint buzzed around in my head like a hornet. I put down the rifle and walked backwards away from the window. I sat down on the couch behind me and gripped the Stealthshot. I stared anxiously at the window, hoping nothing would pass. However… my prayers weren't answered.

A giant figure stepped in front of the window. It was covered in deep brown scales and spiked horns all along its body. It was so tall that I could only see from its shoulders down to its knees. A long tail swung around its legs, searching the ground behind it. Its arms were so long that they were hidden below the frame of the window. I watched in horror as the monster lowered its head and began sniffing around. It had giant, sharp teeth than hung out of its jaws and crisscrossed across its lips. Its eyes glowed a demonish yellow as it gazed around. Its attention turned to the window as it stared inside, directly at me. I looked down at my lap, only to see my light still shining towards the window. I frantically began fiddling with the flashlight, trying to shut it off. The beast began snarling and lifted its hands into view. My jaw dropped as my eyes fell on its ghastly fingers. Its hands were bony with long fingers, but on the end of each finger were talons, as big and sharp as steak knives. I flicked off the light and quickly stood up. The creature pulled its arm backwards and threw it through the window, sending glass everywhere. I ran towards the kitchen as the demon jumped into the room. It sniffed around, looking for the cause of the light. It searched around, not finding anything, but I knew it was looking for me. It eventually gave up and turned away, walking back out the hole in the wall it originally created.

I took some deep breaths as I leaned against my father's old refrigerator. I slid down the cold surface until I landed on the hard floor below. I understood what killed all these people now… what caused my father to leave his home. I dropped my face into my hands, letting my tears roll through my fingers and drop to the floor below. It was my weakest moment ever. It wasn't because I was crying… it was why I was crying. I wasn't crying for all the people who died here. I wasn't crying because my father was gone. I was crying… because I was scared.


	13. Recovering with a Family

My eyes slowly opened to the same dirty, dusty kitchen I had passed out in the night before. It had been quite a few years since I had to cry myself to sleep. The sunlight pouring into the dark room through the window was like an angel. I wiped the residual dirt from my face. Blood was scattered on the floor around me, and its dried form was sticking to my hand. A piece of glass from the window must have cut me last night. The pain was dulled by the fear that was still freezing my bones. I was telling myself to stand, stand and leave this town. I had a mission that I promised myself I would complete… but I couldn't. I couldn't make myself move, and I couldn't find the will to continue. It's like seeing that monster brought forth all the fears I've ever felt… all the fears my father ever felt. The mysterious beasts he told me about in his stories… the demons the man down at Reilly's compound told me about in his legend. They were real. They existed. Not only that… they tried to kill me.

I simply laid on the dusty kitchen floor in the abandoned, old house in the middle of Old Olney. Cockroaches ran back and forth across the ground, crawling over my body as a shortcut. I few more seconds the night before, a few more moments of delay and I would have ended up just like the millions of skeletons scattered across the Capital Wasteland. I would have been a forgotten memory, lost like everything else in this house. Everything else… in this city.

"What do I do?" I asked, hoping someone would answer me. I thought about the message I had heard the night before. The mission that was ahead of me. Nothing seemed simple to me… probably because nothing was. I had to go back home, then walk all the way back to DC. Memories of the Milelurk Hunter, the Feral Ghoul Reaver, everything I encountered came rushing back to my head. There was no way I was going to make it. Suddenly I heard a faint sound in the next room. A light shuffling on the floor. Something was moving in the next room, sliding quietly across the floor. I could be anything, big or small, harmless or deadly. I pulled out the Stealthshot and sat up. I slid backwards until my back was flat against the wall behind me. I held my gun close to my body and aimed it towards the doorway leading to the sound. I gripped the gun tightly, expected the demon from last night to push its head through the door at any moment.

"Hello?" called out a voice. "Somebody in here?" To my relief, a man stepped through the doorway, looking back and forth. He peered into the corner, seeing me huddled against the wall. He walked into the room and held out his hand. "You okay?" I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. I tried to stand straight, even thought my knees were shaking horribly. The man was wearing some dirty leather armor and an old bandana. He had a scruffy brown goatee and wore a shining gold ring on his finger.

"Th… thanks," I mouthed out. The man brushed some dirt off of me and tried to help me relax.

"You look like you've have quite the night, boy," he said calmly. I started to take some deep breaths, trying to regain my balance and sanity. I watched as a woman walked into the room behind the man, followed by two younger girls.

"Your family?" I asked. The man looked at the girls behind him and put on a loving smile. He turned back to me and let out a small sigh.

"Yes," he replied. "Lucky, aren't I. Even if we've been lost out here. You see, we're from a settlement called Big Town. It's to the south… I think. Fact of the matter is, we have no idea where it is. So we've been taking shelter in a place just east of here. We come here to Old Olney every now and again for food, clothing, and supplies." I looked around the room blankly, my mind wandering, obsessed with images of what happened last night. The man looked into my eyes as I snapped back to reality.

"Oh… I'm sorry," I said shyly. "I must be really tired." The man looked away and took on a deep stare. I could tell he wasn't really looking at anything, just staring off into space. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I had to assume that he looked that same way I did only moments ago.

"You saw them didn't you?" he asked after a few moments. "The demons. The monsters. Those… those…"

"…deathclaws," I said quietly. The man looked up at me, in wonder.

"What did you call them?" he asked. I stayed silent for a few moments, wondering what to say. I don't really know where the name came from. It just sort of snuck its way out of my mouth.

"Deathclaws," I replied. "Did you see them? Their claws I mean?" The man shook his head, still staring into my eyes. He turned to his wife and kids and waved them to go into the next room. They slowly turned and left the room. He looked back at me and stepped closer.

"How close did you get to those things?" he asked. I looked at the doorway where he and his family had entered. I thought about the beast exploding through the window. The glass shattering across the wall, cutting my face.

"It saw me," I replied, "it came after me. It wanted to kill me. I got away… just barely. But those claws… like nothing I've ever seen before. They were long… sharp… they were stained brown with blood." The man was locked in fear and amazement. I knew he believed me, even if I didn't believe it myself.

"How did you survive?" he asked. I shook my head and looked away from him. I still held the holotape in my hand, tightly, as if he would steal it.

"My father used to live here," I said quietly, changing the subject. "He was taken away from me… I need to find him." The man nodded and turned around. He began to leave the room, but looked back for a moment.

"Good luck to you in your travels, boy," he said softly. "If you ever need help, my family and I will always be up here by Old Olney. We have no reason to go anywhere else." I laughed and little and composed myself. I felt I was ready to set out. Seeing this man and his family made me realize that I couldn't back down now. I needed to be with my family again.

"My name is Aiden," I called out as the man entered the next room. No answer came back. I sighed and made sure both my guns were fastened in place. Once everything had been accounted for, I got ready to leave on my new journey.

"Name's Dave!" a voice yelled back. I turned into the next room to talk more with Dave, but he and his family were gone. I looked back and forth, but saw nothing. I slowly stepped towards the giant hole in the wall. The sun was bright and I needed to squint my eyes and put my hand to my forehead. I slowly turned and took one last look at my father's old abandoned home. I reached into my bag that hung around my waist and shuffled through the bullets. I pulled out a folded piece of paper and slowly unwrapped it. I stared for a moment at the family portrait of my father and grandparents, before folding it and tucking it back into my ammo bag. I sighed and looked out at the wasteland in front of me.

"Back to work."


	14. Hunted

Three days had passed since my encounter with the Deathclaw and Dave back in Old Olney. I had nothing ahead of me but miles and miles of the barren wasteland. Nothing but dust, dirt, corpses, abandoned homes, destroyed villages, and monsters everywhere. My supply of clean water ran dry a day back, and I hadn't had some real food in what felt like eternity. The occasional rotting corpse of a brahmin or a radscorpion would give me some temporary relief, but right now my stomach was growling up a storm. This search for the "safe haven" I used to call my home, could quite possibly be my last. Unfortunately, that uneasy reality was starting to dawn on me. As the miles kept passing, and every hilltop that gave hope on what was behind it continued to leave me in disappointment, my will was beginning to shatter. Every night I would sit in this forsaken desert, managing to start a fire if I was lucky to come across some wood or tinder. I'd tear off my shoes to gain some relief, however the past two nights I haven't removed my socks… probably because they're stuck to my feet with a thin coating of blood. The blisters may have been horrible, but they were in no way the worst. That honor, goes to the fear. The night brings out every monster in the wasteland. All the hunters and carnivores, and ever since my trip to Old Olney, the fear that one of those demons would return.

As the sun was beginning to set on my third day I reached yet another hill in the wasteland. A borderline mountain when a traveler is as tired as me. I clawed my way up the sand and rocks, hoping to find a flat plateau on the top of this mound that would suffice as a campsite for the night. I stepped forward, catching a rock underneath my foot, which gave way to the weight and avalanched down the hill. My foot gave out and my body crashed to the rocks below me. It was a stinging pain, followed by the cold feeling of blood running down my stomach and spreading on the ground below me. The small candle of my hope was now reaching the end of the wick. I had no will to stand again. I simply laid on the cold ground, with no thoughts in my mind. My eyes had fallen shut and my body, battered and broken, had gone limp.

"What's the point?" I asked myself. I started to drift into sleep. I knew it was a tossup whether or not I would wake up. As my mind started to drift away, something brought it back to reality. It was a faint noise in the distance. A constant, soft sound that was drumming in my ear. I listened closely and opened my eyes. I knew the noise, I had known it all my life. It was water. Running water. I lifted my head from the ground and looked at the hill in front of me. I tore myself of the ground and began trudging my way up the hill. I was on all fours, grabbing the dirt and pulling myself forward. I reached the top and threw myself over the other side. I looked out at the scene in front of me… and stared in disbelief.

"I… I did it." In front of me was one of the most beautiful images my eyes had ever witnessed. The sun was setting and was cut in half by the horizon. The light bathed the wasteland in a fantastic masterpiece of orange and red. A river cutting through the dirt shimmered and sparkled with brilliant yellows and blues. The bridge which held Arefu like a fruit pierced into the glowing sun, turning it into nothing more than a black outline. However, the greatest piece of the image, was my old home, exactly how I left it. Still standing, with a chipped and scratched veneer of white paint on the outside. I pushed myself to my feet and stood on top of the hill, over this marvelous scene. For this one moment, I was God. This was the moment… I regained my will.

I slowly approached my home, cautious of being fooled by just another mirage that had been haunting me over the past few days. As a reached the door, a putrid smell filled the air and brought tears to my eyes. I looked around the side of my home and saw the corpse of the mirelurk hunter that had chased me the night my father was taken. Its shell was now a dirty mix of black and brown, and maggots were falling onto the ground from exposed sections of its rotting flesh. This wasn't exactly the image I wanted when I returned home, but it was something I knew was waiting for me. I went back to the front door and slowly creaked it open. Dust filled the air like snow and floated softly through the light pouring in from the door and windows. This home I had spent eighteen years locked inside felt so alien to me. Everything in the home was gray with dust and the kitchen smelled of rotting food inside out old refrigerator. I looked at the wall, admiring a photograph of me and my parents tacked up on our peeling wallpaper. I walked towards it and put my hand on my father. I looked down and sighed.

"I know you're still alive," I said quietly. "I promise I'll find you." I turned away from the picture and slowly walked up to my old room. I laid down on my old bed, which still smelled like me. It was a familiar and comforting thing. I slowly drifted off into sleep, noticing that there was no scratching on the house tonight.

I woke up the next morning at the crack of dawn. While the sun was still rising I got my armor and weaponry together, got some fresh water out of my fridge, and headed out the door. I stepped outside, back into the dirty, dusty wasteland. I turned and looked into my home one last time before slowly closing the door behind me. It was time to head out once again. Suddenly a sound pierced the air, it was a sharp, high-pitched noise. It almost stung my hears. However, this was soon replaced by an intense heat that shot by my head, making me instantly sweat. I dropped to the ground and looked behind me, only to see a green burn staining the side of my house. I stared in disbelief as the wood paneling on my home melted away into green slime on the ground. I turned around and saw two men standing in the distance. One began reloading a strange looking weapon, while the other fiercely pointed at me. They both were wearing black armor that covered their whole body. Two yellow pieces of glass covered their eyes and large pointed shoulder pieces made them look extremely intimidating.

"See I told you he'd come back to his home!" shouted the first soldier. The second was still trying to reload his weapon.

"Alright!" yelled the second. "I get the fucking picture. It's not my fault this damn thing decides to gunk up right now!" The first soldier yelled in annoyance and pulled out his weapon. I immediately recognized it. It was a laser rifle… the same that Paladin Rex had been using. I ran for the side of my home and ducked around the corner just as a hailstorm of red lasers filled the air around me. I reached onto my back with a shaky hand and grabbed the Victory Rifle. I took some deep breaths and slid my head out from behind my home. I quickly took aim at the two men who were now barreling towards me. I aimed for the second soldier's chest and started to squeeze the trigger. Suddenly my arms started shaking and my heart began hurting. I was about to kill another human being. I took a deep breath and fired. The bullet went off course and instead of hitting the man in the chest, it instead went south and hit the man directly in his left shin. His armor split and an explosion of blood erupted from the back of his calf. I winced in horror as the man's left leg disintegrated and his body fell in a heap to the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" he screamed. The first soldier turned to his fallen friend and slowly approached him. "Help me! Help me up, please!" The first soldier rearmed his weapon and looked down at the second. He sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "But you know the code as well as I do." The grounded soldier began shaking his head and put up his hands.

"No!" he yelled. "I'll do anything! Please!" The standing soldier aimed his weapon at his grounded friend and squeezed the trigger. I turned away as a terrifying scream filled the air. I built up the courage to look back, only to see the first soldier standing over a glowing green pile of slime on the ground. I gasped in horror and turned around. I ran away from the soldiers and from my house. I kept running into the wasteland. I ended up in an abandoned field with nothing more than an old dock and a dirty boat. I jumped into the boat and knelt down on the floor with the spiders.

"Where are you?" yelled a voice. The soldier ran into the field, looking everywhere for where I could have gone. I watched his eyes travel around through a hole in the hull of the boat… until they fell on the boat I was hiding in. I held my breath as the soldier slowly started walking towards me, with his gun held at the ready. He was getting closer and closer, and soon he was only five feet from me. He started to look inside the boat when a flash of pink appeared in front of me and took the man to the ground. He screamed in terror and fought against the creature on top of him. A giant molerat began biting at the man's armor, desperate for food. The man punched the creature away and got to his feet. Suddenly two more molerats appeared from the dust and charged towards the soldier. He frantically tried to rearm his gunked up weapon… but to no avail. The man threw his gun at the creatures and ran away into the distance… the three animals in hot pursuit.

I slowly stood out of the boat, amazed that I had remained undetected. Who were those soldiers… and why were they looking for me? These soldiers weren't like the brotherhood… they were murderous… and they were after me. I took some deep breaths as the wind blew against the sweat on my forehead, cooling me down. The noise of the wind over the rippling water near me was very calming in this chaotic situation. However, I started to listen closer… as another noise began to ring out in this symphony. It was a metallic noise, something blowing in the wind. I looked to the cliff-side on my right and saw something gleaming in the sunlight. It was something very out of the ordinary. It was a chain gate in the rock wall. I couldn't understand why a gate would lead to nothing more than a cave in the side of a cliff. I slowly approached the gate and stared into the dark black cave it guarded. I looked to my left and saw a wooden sign covered with a veneer of dirt and grime. I wiped it away and gasped at the words it uncovered.

**Hamilton's hideaway**


	15. Angels and Demons

I pulled out the Stealthshot and shot the lock off of the gate in front of me. The lock disappeared in a cascade of sparks and reappeared on the ground near my feet. I grabbed the rusted metal pipe holding the chains of the gate together and pulled at it. Bits of rust and dirt flew from the old hinges and the gate squeaked open. It slowly revealed the cave behind it and gently rested against the rock wall once it was wide open. I stared into the mysterious blackness that was inside the cave. There was no light, no signs of any form of life within the cold, dripping walls. I sighed and pulled out my flashlight. I reached into my ammo bag and pulled out a small roll of electrical tape that Paladin Rex had given me back at the Washington Monument. I taped my tiny flashlight onto the top of the Stealthshot and flipped it on. I aimed it down the tunnel, but still nothing but darkness came into view. I gulped and took one last deep breath before stepped into the cave.

I talked to myself as I walked, trying to reassure myself that everything was okay. That nothing was inside this cave. I was thinking about everything that happened in the past few days. The trip to Old Olney and the deathclaw that destroyed my father's old home and attacked me. I also remember Dave and his happy family. Before I left Old Olney, I remember running up to him again, and telling him I was praying for him and his family. He told me that sometimes all you need is someone praying for you. Dave was headed to Canteberry Commons, which is where this stupid idea came from. I told him to find Reilly and have her come pick me up at Arefu. By my calculations, Hamilton's Hideaway was closer than Canteberry Commons, and it would take me less time to put all of these clues together. How wrong I was. Now I was tired, injured, and worst of all… alone.

After a few minutes of walking I was engulfed in darkness. The only things I could see were the ones in the tiny cone of light that came from my flashlight. Drops of dirty water from the rocks overhead were falling onto my head, sinking into my hair and dripped down the back of my neck. I kept my light on the ground, amking sure I would trip over anything. The water in my hair and clothes were weighing me down as a trudged through the cave, not to mention all the things I was carrying with me. All the ammo, the weaponry, the lucky 8-ball, the photograph, and the holotape marked with the words "To Janice… Love Max."

The light from my flashlight was seemingly being absorbed into the dirt covered rocks I was walking on, until this terrain gave way to a metal grate. I aimed the flashlight in front of me, seeing a staircase descended into what seemed like hell. I kneeled down and picked up a small rock, about the size of a lemon. I threw it down the staircase, listening for how long the drop was. The rock clanked down the stairs and got quieter and quieter. It was soon out of my view, but was still dropping. It finally stopped when it hit something different than metal. I assumed there was just another rock face at the bottom of the stairs, but this sound was different, like a crunching sound. It sounded like the rock had bounced against a sheet of plastic, covered with tin foil. I aimed my flashlight at the source of the sound, but still couldn't see anything. Suddenly a small object floated into the light and waved back and forth as it got closer and closer to me. It was like a little white ball just hanging in the darkness. It was still getting closer and closer as the seconds ticked by. Soon it was only twenty steps from where I stood. I was filled with fear as the cave around me was suddenly engulfed with a horrible hissing noise. It filled my head and rang in my ears. It was then I noticed that there was something under this floating ball, a white appendage underneath it, seemingly holding it in the air. I aimed my light lower and lower until the horrible truth came into view.

A giant radscorpion was barreling up the staircase towards me. Its shell was ghostly white and its eyes were a terrible shade of red that glowed in the dark tunnel. Its stinger and claws were stained crimson with blood and its jaws were pulsing back and forth with the hopes of me being its next meal. The claws alone on this demon were as big as my entire body and it could barely squeeze its massive frame through the tunnels as it charged up the staircase. The light I was aiming at the beast was waving back and forth, sometimes bathing the creature in darkness and then revealing it even closer to me. My arms couldn't control themselves as they waved around in fear. I gripped the Stealthshot tightly and squeezed the trigger. A bullet flew form the barrel and sparked off the wall to the right of the radscorpion. Sweat started to pour down my face and fly from my mouth every time I exhaled. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my knees were close to giving out. I fired again and this time the bullet imbedded itself inside one of the demon's right legs. It slowed for only a moment before the other seven legs took over and again pushed it forward. I took a deep breath and aimed at the beast's face.

"Fuck you," I said quietly. I squeezed the trigger and heard a small click. I fired again and again, yet every time I was only greeted by a small click. The gun opened, revealing a circle of six empty holes. I shoved my hand into my ammo bag, frantically looking for another clip. As soon as I grabbed one, I immediately realized I was far too late. The radscorpion threw its claw towards me, knocking me sideways into the rock wall, cracking my back and making me slam my skull into the hard surface. I still held the clip in my hand and tried to shove it into the Stealthshot, but the blow to my head made everything split into twos and fours, and the clip was sliding off its target every time. By waving the gun around I was hiding and revealing the scorpion like some kind of horrible strobe light. Finally the bullets slid into the chamber and the weapon was armed. I aimed it up at the creature, but was greeted with the terrible sight of its stinging tail firing down at me with lightning speed. I rolled to my right, trying to dodge the attack, but failed when the stinger stabbed into my right calf, piercing muscle and splitting bone. I cried out in pain as the stinger ripped itself back out of my leg and got ready to fire again. With all the strength I had left I aimed the Stealthshot at the demon and fired. A piercing scream broke from the scorpion and filled the tunnel. A spray of crimson red blood shot from the creatures face and stained my armor. In the light I could see a massive hole where two of the scorpion's eyes used to be. All eight of the demon's legs buckled and the massive scorpion collapsed onto the cold ground of the cave.

I dropped my head to the ground and let my body go limp. I could feel the venom of the scorpion starting to take effect. My entire right leg was numb, which I suppose was for the better. I didn't want to look again, but from a glance before a laid down my leg was bathed in a deep red and part of the snow-white bone was visible. A few minutes passed and I was still lying on my back, staring up at the ceiling. I started talking to myself, not fazed by the scratchy noise that was my venom-induced voice.

"I'm sorry, father," I said quietly to myself. "I'm so sorry." Tears started to well up in my eyes and slowly drip down my face, forming a new puddle of cold water under my head. "I tried… I did what I could." The cave got deathly silent at that moment. There was no water dripping anymore, no bats flying in the still air above me, and no roaches scratching around my body. I listened for something I knew would never come. It's all I wanted right then… an answer.

"Aidan," a voice said quietly in the distance. I looked around for the source of the voice, but saw no one. My mind playing tricks on me… perhaps? "Aidan." This time I knew I heard something. It was a light voice, like a dove, ringing out in the hallways. I stared at the darkness behind me, looking for any signs of life. It was a few moments before a silhouette of a woman became visible in the black. She had long brown hair and a delicate frame. She was wearing tattered brahmin-skin clothes, yet her skin was shockingly clean and clear. I stared in amazement, as the woman seemed to almost glow. Once her face became visible, I instantly recognized her.

"Janice?" I asked quietly. "Is that you? It… it can't be." She smiled and kneeled down next to me, looking at my injured leg.

"Aidan," she said in that familiar and soft voice. "You're going to be alright. You're father is still alive out there… I know it. I know you can find him, Aidan. You just can't give up."

"But how?" I yelled back. "I'm not the kind of man he was. I can't deal with the kind of things he dealt with in his life. The kind of things Charon grew up with in his life. All the scorpions, the deathclaws, and the psychopaths that fill this wasteland, it's like they're all out with the one purpose of seeing me fail."

"Aidan," she started, "don't give up." Her beautiful face began to fade, as if she was melting into the darkness.

"No…" I said quietly.

"Don't give up."

"No!" I yelled louder. "Don't leave me again!" She got dimmer and dimmer as the darkness of the cave began to swallow her. "Janice! Don't go!" Soon she was completely engulfed by the darkness and everything around me became darker. "Mother!" My entire world went black after that.


	16. Teaming Up

My eyes opened to the black, stone ceiling of Hamilton's Hideaway. A familiar rockface that I could only associate with the creature that attacked me last night. First the mirelurks were changing, and now the radscorpions. Everything in this godforsaken wasteland was changing, and evolving. They were becoming more ferocious, tougher, and much more aggressive. At first, I thought I was dead, lying on the ground, dead, waiting to be taken away. Strangely, for some reason, that thought to me was very calming to me. There was nothing left for me to do, nothing else I could do, and nothing ahead of me. If I was dead, I wouldn't be this big hero anymore… I'd just be another corpse, rotting in this massive graveyard.

I looked to my side and examined where I was. I was lying in a small room, lined with dark metal walls under the rock ceiling. A small doorway led back into the cave hallways, where a dim light flooded into the room, barely keeping it lit. I was on a metal table, extremely cold to the touch, yet very smooth and comfortable compared to the rocks I was laying on before I fell asleep. I looked down at my leg, which was now a tangled mess of white bandages, stained with a deep crimson from my wound. On the table next to me were about four or five stimpaks, all of them were empty. On a small side-table next to my head were a few bottles of buffout, jet, and even some physco. Once again, all of these bottles were empty. All the drugs in my system were making the room blurry and shake back and forth. However, my vision was clear enough to see someone appear in the doorway leading to the hall.

"Mom?" I asked quietly. The woman walked into the room, carrying a lantern with her. She got to the table I was lying on and set the lantern down next to me. Her face came into view, and instantly I realized that I was still alive. It was Reilly, leaning over my leg and examining it.

"You took quite a shot," she said to me, softly. "Thank God the stimpaks took effect quickly, otherwise you may have been leaving here with only one leg. The bone seems to be healing nicely. The stimpaks should help it reattach in a few more hours. Buckle up though, when stimpaks repair bones it's not exactly the most pleasant thing. Hopefully the jet should kill most of the pain." She stuck a piece of wood next to my leg and quickly wrapped some tape around it. I didn't know if this homemade splint would actually make my leg heal straight, but I didn't really care at this point.

"The venom," I said quietly, "what about the scorpion's poison? My father always told me that even a little of that venom could kill someone within a few hours." Reilly nodded and sat down in a chair next to me.

"You're lucky, Aidan," she said to me. "The stinger went straight through your leg. All of the radscorpion's poison was shot onto the ground. Thank God you managed to kill it before it struck again." I nodded and started to close my eyes. However, I noticed something before my eyes shut, something appearing in the doorway behind Reilly. I sat up and pointed to the doorway, trying to warn Reilly.

"Look out!" I yelled. Reilly turned around as a giant soldier ant rushed into the room and jumped up at her. Reilly stuck out her hands and grabbed the creature's jaws, holding them only inches from her face. Right when her arms were about to give, someone ran into the room and tackled the giant insect into the wall. He pulled out a shotgun and aimed it at the creature. A loud crash ended with the ant's head exploding into a wave of yellow slime. The man sighed and returned his shotgun to his back. Reilly was lying on the ground next to me, grabbing her chest in shock. He tried to talk, but could barely force any words out.

"Thank you," she said, finally. The man slowly turned around and nodded his head.

"It's what friends do," he replied. I stopped and stared at the man. I knew that voice, so familiar, and so friendly. The man stepped forward out of the shadows, bringing his face into the light.

"Charon?" I asked. Charon smiled and nodded to me. "I don't understand. I thought you went back to the Museum. What are you doing here?" Charon smiled and chuckled a little bit.

"I figured you couldn't survive by yourself out here," he replied. "I was about to go to Canteberry Commons to meet up with you and Reilly, but before I left to go there, a trade caravan came along and gave me the news. They told me Reilly had left for Arefu. I started walking, and once I got here, I found something interesting at the entrance to this cave." He held up his hand, showing me the lucky-8-ball James had given me outside of Rivet City. Charon looked down at my leg and sighed. "Looks like you could've used this." I smiled and dropped back down onto the table. I started to close my eyes and began drifting off to sleep. Reilly put out her hand and shook me, waking me up again.

"Hey," she started, "no sleeping. There's too many drugs in your system. No telling if you'd wake up again." I nodded and sat up again. Reilly reached next to the table and pulled out two crutches. She handed them to me and backed away. "You leg should be healed enough to actually stay together when you lift it. Stimpaks, best damn technology ever made." I nodded and put the crutches onto the ground. I slowly slid off the table and put my good leg onto the floor. I started out slow at first, but soon got the handle of things. I used the crutches to walk to the door and looked down the hallway. Down the dark tunnel on my right was a room, completely black with darkness. However, something inside the room was giving off a radiance of green light. I gasped and started towards the room. Charon ran up behind me and put a hand on my chest. He held me back and pulled out his shotgun.

"You're injured… remember?" he asked. He turned on his flashlight and aimed it into the room. Once he stepped through the door he quickly turned it back and forth. He looked at me and motioned me to follow. I crutched my way into the room and looked at the source of the light. Just as I suspected, a computer monitor was mounted on the wall. I quickly made my way over to it and clicked the START key. A keypad extended from the monitor and the screen asked me for a password. I quickly typed in the word MAXIMUS and waited for the computer to load. A large green word appeared on the screen, reading ACCEPTED. The computer screen turned black and shut down. Charon walked up behind me and stared at the monitor.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. I smiled and looked up at him.

"The first piece of the puzzle," I replied. "Now we need to take you home. The next monitor is at the Museum of History." Charon rolled his eyes and sighed. He turned to leave, but stopped when a drip of green goo fell onto his armor. He put on a face of disgust and wiped the goo away.

"What the hell?" he asked. He looked up and aimed his flashlight onto the ceiling, and what we saw was horrifying. It was a radspider, hanging from the ceiling over us by a line of silk as thick as rope. Its wingspan was bigger than me and its body was the size of a beachball. Its jaws pulsed back and forth and venom was dripping from its fangs. It was a deep black and blended into the rocks behind it. The back half of the spider was covered with bright green and orange hairs that stuck out like spikes. I fell to the side and Charon leaped out of the way as the giant spider dropped in between us. It turned to me and lifted its giant fangs. It reared its body into the air in its attack posture. Just as it was about to strike, Reilly ran in, firing shot after shot into the beast with her .32 pistol. The creature whipped to the side, sending Reilly into the wall. It turned back to me and fired a stream of web from its backside, slamming into Reilly and sticking her to the wall. The demon got closer and closer to me until its fangs were only inches from my face. Just as it was about to bite me, it erupted into a blinding red color and disintegrated into a pile of ashes on the floor in front of me. I looked at the doorway to the room and saw a man aiming his gun at the pile before me.

"Leave it to you to get attacked by one of the rarest creatures in this God damned shithole," he said, jokingly. The man was wearing bright silver power armor and was holding a laser rifle. He took off his helmet and held it by his side. "Now let's get you the hell out of this cave," Rex said with pride.

We stepped out of Hamilton's Hideaway and back into the brightly lit wasteland. Charon, Reilly, Paladin Rex, and I all stood just outside the chainlink gate to the cave. Before us were two Enclave helicopters, one owned by Reilly, and the other by Rex. I looked at my team and gave a smile to each of them. Every one of the people around me had saved my life at least once. I looked back at the helicopters, realizing that completing the rest of this mission was going to be a piece-of-cake. At that point I would have called that feeling confidence… but looking back at it… I call it foolishness.


	17. Dogfight

"So it's agreed?" I asked the team. "Reilly and I will take one chopper, while Charon and Rex take the other. It will save us fuel, therefore saving us time. We'll fly these thingss down to Reilly's Compound, land there, and make the trip up to the Museum of History."

"Why don't we just land at the museum?" asked Reilly. "These babies have enough fuel to make a landing and takeoff at the museum and still get us back to the compound."

"Lady," butted in Rex, "take it from a guy who's been stationed at that shithole for a few years now. I know firsthand that there ain't a safe place to land anywhere near the museum. Our best bet is to land safely at your base, and make the day walk to the museum. Unless you want your ass shot up by those supermutants outside the capitol building." I nodded to Reilly, and then to Charon. Charon nodded back to me and then turned away. He and Rex approached the jet black helicopter parked in the middle of the barren field outside Hamilton's Hideaway. Before Rex turned he gave me a small salute and headed for the front of the chopper. Rex opened the door to the cockpit and climbed in. He took a seat in the large chair up front and slid on his headphones. Charon slid open the side door and hopped into the back. He stood up straight and took a firm handle on the door. He looked at me once more before sliding the door closed. I turned to Reilly and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks for everything, Reilly," I said to her. "My father would be really happy to see this." She smiled back and then turned to her helicopter. It was a lighter shade of gray than Rex's helicopter, but the front of it was rounder, instead of pointed like a plane. Reilly's was a newer model, just recently stolen from the Enclave. Reilly opened the door to the cockpit and climbed into the large leather chair. She put on her headphones and started the propellers. The giant propellers clicked around a few times before picking up speed. The area around me filled with dust kicked up by the wind, and the air was bathed in the incredibly loud sound of the chopper. I turned to the side door and slid it open. I threw my crutches into the helicopter and then lifted my body inside. My leg had mostly healed up, thanks to the quick action of those miracle stimpaks. The helicopter began to rise, which I could tell from that dropping feeling in my stomach. I looked at the ground as it started getting further and further away. We lifted off the ground and began to hover, almost in sync with Rex's helicopter across the way. We both rose higher into the air until the gate of Hamilton's Hideaway was nothing more than a shining silver speck on the side of the cliff. Our helicopter turned south and took off for Reilly's compound.

"So, ready to tell me what the wreckage is?" I called out to Reilly, "or is it still something I have to figure out for myself? Some kind of mystery?" Reilly continued driving, appearing that she didn't hear my muffled shouts. She turned her head slightly, looking at me with her peripheral.

"Trust me," she started, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you. I still don't believe it. I'm going to have to see it again to prove to myself that I wasn't just crazy all those years ago. If it's still what I think it was, then we're both in for a shock." After screaming to each other over the propellers for another few minutes, the skyline of DC came into view. I peered out through the front windshield as a stood directly behind Reilly. We were getting closer, closer to DC, and closer to my father. The pointed top of the Washington Monument pierced the deep orange sun in the distance. The sound of the helicopter cut through the silent wasteland and would echo back to me off of the cliffs below. However, the sound of the propellers quickly gave way to another noise. It was a high pitched, blaring noise screaming at us from the dashboard. A red light began flashing in front of Reilly, bathing her in crimson. I saw Reilly's grip tighten and sweat start to form on the back of her neck.

"What the hell's going on?" I screamed. Reilly look back and forth and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She gripped the controls and yanked them towards her.

"Hang on!" she yelled back. The helicopter suddenly shot upwards, making me lose my footing and slam into the floor. Then it dropped again, just as quickly, sending me flying towards the ceiling, but dropping back to the ground just before impact. I clawed my way to my feet and stared out the windshield, just in time to see a massive missile fly from under us and slam into the ground below, missing us by inches. The explosion it created buried us in smoke and sent dust and dirt in all directions. Small rocks clicked off the windshield as we pulled back into a clear sky.

"Reilly are you okay?" Rex screamed over the radio. Reilly grabbed the walkie and clicked the small button on the side.

"Yeah, we're fine," she replied, "just a little shaken up."

"Well piece yourselves together! We got company coming up fast! Two bogies on our six!" I gasped and ran to the side door. I tore it open, letting the wind rush into the helicopter as we sped through the air. Anything loose inside the helicopter exploded into motion with the force of the wind. I watched the door fly open on Rex's helicopter and Charon lean out to see what was going on. I grabbed hold of the door and stuck my head into the wind, gazing behind us. Two helicopters, closely resembling Reilly's, were barreling towards us in hot pursuit. They were both jet black and had bright green designs on the side.

"The Enclave," I said quietly. I pulled my head back in and ran to Reilly's side. "It's the Enclave! They know I'm with you! They're after me!" Reilly grunted as the radar began to shout as us again.

"Oh shit!" she yelled. Suddenly our helicopter lurched forward. Reilly's head snapped back and forth and I was sent careening off my feet. I fell towards the door and just barely grabbed the handle. Half my body was leaning out of the helicopter, flailing in the wind. I only had one foot inside the helicopter, while the other was simply waving back and forth in midair. A giant explosion was just ending on the back of our chopper from the missile impact. The hair on my head was singed with the blistering heat of the fire the missile caused. Reilly flipped on the auto pilot and leapt from her chair. She ran to me and grabbed my chest, pulling me back into the helicopter.

"We can't take much more of this!" she yelled at me. She ran to a black tarp behind her seat and lifted it up, revealing a rope attacked to a set of buckles on each end. "We only have one shot." She snapped one end of the rope to a handle on the other side of the chopper and then ran to me. She attached the other end to my belt and then quickly moved to the back of the helicopter. "I have to out maneuver these guys, and it's going to be your job to take them out!"

"What's the rope for?" I asked, nervous of the answer. I already knew what she was going to say… I just wanted to make sure this was really going to happen. Reilly reached into a case in the back of the chopper and pulled out a strange looking device. It was large, around the size of a missile launcher. However, it was just a straight tube with a handle and trigger on the bottom. The most eye-catching feature was what was inside the tube. It was glowing with blue lighting, pulsing back and forth inside the chamber. She threw me the weapon and I caught it, reluctantly.

"You're going to lean out of the chopper!" she yelled. "The rope with hold your weight! Just shoot them down or we're both done for!" I gulped and peeked outside the door. The ground seemed like miles and miles away. The wind was rushing past me like a stampede and the helicopters behind me were appearing and disappearing in the clouds. I had to do this, I knew I had no choice. I took one last breath and leaned my entire body out of the helicopter. One leg was still inside, while the other was standing on the landing gear. I hoisted the cannon over my shoulder and took aim. My arms were shaking, and the rough ride wasn't making it any easier. The cannon on my shoulder was hot to the touch, probably from the lightning pulsing around inside. I took aim at the duo of choppers and held my breath. I squeezed the trigger, and was completely caught off guard. A surge of blue lightning erupted from the cannon, pushing me backwards and taking out my footing. I slipped from the landing rail and fell face first onto the edge of the helicopter doorway. My face cracked off the hard metal, but I managed to keep my grip on the cannon. I looked up in time to see one of the helicopters take the full blast of the weapon. It surged with blue lightning and then erupted into a fireball in midair.

"Hell yeah!" I screamed. I could hear Charon screaming in triumph from the other helicopter. I smiled and spit a stream of blood out of the doorway. My nose and mouth were covered with blood and I couldn't even tell if my nose was sitting straight on my face anymore. It didn't matter right now. We were still in danger. I yanked a small canister from the back of the cannon and reached for a new one Reilly had given me. I slapped it onto the back and waited for the gun to reload. I leaned out of the chopper again and took aim at the last helicopter chasing us. The blue lightning returned in the weapon, but to my dismay, the pursuing helicopter had just loaded another missile and was taking aim. I watched the missile rotate into the helicopters cannon, with deadly intent. I quickly squeezed the trigger and fired a round at the helicopter. Instead of the explosion I was expecting, I instead heard a loud snap next to me. I looked to the side and saw the rope holding me up snap in half in the recoil. My half of the rope flew past me and out of the helicopter doors. I gasped as my weight carried me out of the helicopter. I flipped over and threw my hand up, barely catching the rail underneath the helicopter.

"Aidan!" Reilly screamed from inside. "Hold on!" The cannon slipped from my hand and I watched it tumble to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of dust. I stared at the rocks below as they quickly passed underneath me. My grip began to loosen and my fingers started to slip. My hand slipped from the rail and I felt my body start to drop. I screamed, like a little girl, just as I felt my momentum stop. I looked up and saw Reilly leaning out of the helicopter, her hands holding me from certain death. I looked behind our chopper and watched the enemy helicopter start to shake in the air as blue lightning surged around it. It dropped under the clouds and disappeared in a giant fireball. I heard Charon shout once more and Reilly started to pull me up. I was still hanging out of the helicopter, but felt a hundred times safer now that Reilly was holding me up, and no more helicopters were pursuing us.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY!" shouted Rex, snapping me out of my calmness. "We're not out of the woods yet. Enclave chopper managed to fire that last missile before it went down. Bogie approaching fast! Get your ass back in that helicopter!" Reilly began pulling me up as the horrifying sound of the missile pierced the air. The missile burst through the clouds and shot towards us. It was headed straight for me, closing fast.

"Aidan!" shouted Charon over the radio. "Get back in the helicopter! Hurry! GET YOUR ASS IN THE HELICOPTER RIGHT NOW!" The missile barreled towards, aiming straight for me, not even the chopper. I watched the missile like it was in slow motion fly past our helicopter, missing me my inches. However, my hope and pleasure quickly turned to complete fear. The missile may have passed out chopper, but it was barreling towards Rex and Charon. I watched in horror as the missile plowed into the back of their helicopter, erupting into flames. Pieces of metal flew from the back of their chopper, one of which shot upwards and sliced one of their propellers in half.

"We're hit! We're hit!" Rex screamed over the radio.

"Son of a bitch!" Charon yelled in the background. "What the hell happened!"

"We're going down! I can't control her! I repeat, WE'RE GOING DOWN!" I watched Rex's helicopter fly back and forth as smoked poured from behind it. It fell below the clouds and slammed into the rocks below. A mushroom cloud of smoke and fire punched a hole in the clouds, and started to get farther and farther away as our chopper continued through the sky.

"Rex! Charon!" I screamed. "NO!" Reilly quickly used all her might to pull me back into the helicopter. "We have to go back! Turn the chopper around! TURN IT AROUND NOW!" Reilly ran to the controls and turned off the autopilot. She swung the helicopter around, shifting everything inside to the left side of the helicopter. I ran to the side door and looked downwards as we reached the crash site. I stared down below us at the jagged rocks, covered with ash and metal. The burnt husk of the helicopter was stabbed and mangled in the rocks, with pieces hundreds of feet away. Smoke was still rising from the body of the chopper and fire was scattered across the wasteland. As our helicopter began to slow down, I started to wonder how I could cope… with two of my best friends dying.


	18. Taken

Our helicopter slowly descended over the crash site. We were dropping slower and slower… yet to me, it couldn't drop slow enough. Images of what could be scattered across the wasteland floor flashed through my mind. Pieces of helicopter, scraps of metal, and shattered bodies of dead friends. Our chopper reached the ground and touched down with a small bump. The rotors slowly stopped turning and the cloud of dust before us gave way to the scene I was dreading. Just outside the helicopter doors was the crashed chopper of Rex and Charon. Its ash covered husk and shattered rotors were lying like a defeated soldier on the battlefield. I stepped out of the helicopter and onto the cold ground. One step later and an unfamiliar terrain was underneath my foot. I looked down to see a broken piece of the chopper's rotors below me. I started walking toward the helicopter, my pace quickening, getting faster and faster. I started to sweat as I ran through the showers of fire and ash from the impact. Pieces of scrap metal from the broken helicopter were scattered across the ground, making me trip over and over again. I reached the crashed helicopter and ripped a piece of metal from the chopper's body.

"Charon?" I asked quietly. Charon was lying underneath the metal, his face bloodied and battered. His slowly turned his head towards me and coughed a few times, letting blood trickle down from his lips. I pulled another piece of metal off of him and desperately tried to dig him out. He grabbed a piece of metal and pushed it off of himself. He sat up and stared to wipe the blood from his face.

"Charon," Reilly called out, running over. "You're okay?" Charon laughed a little and spit some more blood from his mouth.

"I've been through worse shit out here," he replied. "This ain't going to keep me down." Charon brushed some dirt off his armor and grabbed his shotgun off of the ground. Although I was happy that Charon seemed to be okay, my attention turned directly to Paladin Rex. He was nowhere near the actual helicopter. I looked around the crash site, under ever rock and piece of metal, but still no sign of Rex.

"He's got to be here somewhere!" I yelled after about fifteen minutes. "He's alive somewhere! I'm sure of it!" Reilly came up behind me and grabbed my shoulders.

"Aidan," she started, softly, "he was in a high altitude helicopter crash. Charon got lucky, and there's a big chance that Rex didn't." I looked down at the ground as thoughts of Rex filled my head. All the times he saved me, and the respect he showed me. I fell to my knees and buried my face in my hands.

"It's because of me!" I yelled. "Rex is dead because of me! The Enclave wasn't after him!" Reilly knelt down behind me, trying to calm me down, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't understand the pain of having a friend killed for your problems. The weight of his death was now on my shoulders, pressing me to the ground.

"Aidan!" yelled Charon. I looked up at him in response. He was standing in the distance, his form blurry form the tears in my eyes. "You might want to check this out!" Could it be? Did Charon find Rex? I jumped to my feet and charged towards Charon. I jumped over metal and rocks, excited that Charon may have found my lost friend. I finally reached him and looked to wear he was pointing. On the ground was a small metal box with a blue circle on top. That's all there was. There was simply a box, no Rex, nothing.

"What the hell, Charon?" I asked angrily. "What does this have to do with anything?" My hope dropped again as Charon sighed and walked towards the box. He knelt down next to it and clicked a button on the side of it. I loud beep started and repeated over and over again. When it stopped the blue circle on the tope of the box glowed with a bright radiance. A beam of light shot from the top of the box and slowly became a holographic form. It turned into the shape of a man and began to get detailed. The man had wavy brown hair and wore a nice pinstriped suit. His arms were folded behind his back, very professionally. The hologram was a bright blue and was transparent.

"Hello there," he said, calmly. "I've been dying to meet you three. You've caused me quite a bit of trouble. Not good for this country. Not one bit." I looked at Charon, and then Reilly, in wonder. "Don't stand there dumbfounded, my friend. Please, talk with me. I want to get to know you." I cautiously stepped towards the box and took a deep breath.

"Hello?" I asked. "Can you hear me?" The man laughed and nodded.

"Of course I can, lad!" he yelled. "Haven't you ever used a holophone before? Sounds like you're from a vault to me."

"Who are you?" I asked. "Why are you so concerned about us, and what's you're involvement with the Enclave?" The man laughed again and shook his head back and forth.

"Young man," he started, "you really have no clue do you? Involvement with the Enclave? I'm not involved with the Enclave… I am the Enclave. The name is Eden. President Eden." Reilly stepped in front of me and pushed me backwards.

"Eden!" she yelled. "I knew I recognized that slimy voice of yours! Surprising you're actually talking to us in person, and not sticking me with your lapdog, Autumn, again!"

"Now, now, Miss Reilly," he started. "No need to get angry with me. I'm simply trying to do what's best for this country."

"So you took my father?" I yelled viciously. "That's going to help this country? He didn't do anything wrong! What makes you think you have the right?"

"I have the right to do whatever I want as long as it is beneficial to the country's wellbeing. Right now we need the latest technology is the wasteland to try and rebuild our society. Your father knows where this technology is located, and we have intelligence suggesting that you do as well."

"You're not getting the technology, Eden!" I yelled. "I don't care if you're the president! No one does! This isn't a fucking country anymore! Can't you see that? This place is nothing more than a lifeless shithole! You're not going to change that by kidnapping and threatening people!" Sweat was dripping from my forehead and I was grinding my teeth together in anger.

"Calm yourself, Aidan," he said to me, still in an extremely calm tone, like he had no emotions. "I don't want to be in this battle with you. I simply want what's best."

"How do you know what's best?" asked Charon. "You haven't lived out in this wasteland like us. You don't know what we really need out here. We need food, water, shelter, places to live where we aren't under constant assault from mutants and monsters. New technology for the Enclave isn't going to solve this. Why do you need it so bad?"

"Listen," Eden started, "just as young Aidan feels we aren't ready for the technology he possesses, I believe you are not ready for the reason we need it. I will leave it with saying that in the Enclave we need the latest in updated technology. I need the latest in updated technology."

"Well forget it!" I yelled. "You're not getting the technology! I promised my father and myself that I wouldn't give you anything!" Eden sighed and started walking to the side, the holographic image following him.

"It saddens me to hear that, lad," he said solemnly, "but unfortunately I can't take the chance of losing this technology. So here's the way this is going to happen." I watched as two soldiers marched into the room behind Eden, carrying a man with them. The man was limp and was simply being held up by his arms. The men dragged him in and through him next to Eden.

"Is that…" I started. The man looked up and stared straight into my eyes. I immediately recognized him. His face was bloody and his armor was completely destroyed.

"Rex!" screamed Reilly. "You monster! Let him go!" Eden put up his hand and put on a sinister smile.

"So now here's the game," he started. "If you don't get that technology to me within the next three days, well, let's just say Rex won't be around to see what it is. Do I make myself clear?" I thought for a moment, silently thinking.

"Where is he?" I asked quietly. Eden looked confused as I stared deep into his soulless eyes. "Where is my father?" Eden closed his eyes and smiled a little.

"Nothing would make me happier than to show your father a thing or two," he said, slightly angry, "but we need the information he has. Give me the technology, and you get your father back as well."

"You're a sick man, Eden!" yelled Charon. "I swear I'm going to put a bullet right in between your fucking eyes!"

"Sticks and stones my friendly ghoul," he replied, calmly. "You know what you have to do, Aidan. Bring me the technology, or Rex is history."

"Aidan!" yelled Rex. "Don't worry about me. I…" The hologram cut off there. No more words… that was it. The Enclave had two loved ones, and I knew I was powerless. Suddenly my hope of rescuing my father, while keeping his secret was dashed. It was over… Eden had won.


	19. A Change of Heart

"You're not giving up are you?" Charon asked, desperately. "This technology needs to be kept secret. You can't let Eden get his hands on it."

"What choice do I have?" I replied. "Eden has everything. He has the complete power over me. He's taken everything away from me. My friends, my father, my life as I knew it. As much as I hated being locked up in that house, it was heaven compared to this. I just want things to go back to the way they were. If that means Eden gets whatever the hell you and my father are hiding… then so be it." I turned my back to Reilly and Charon and walked towards the helicopter.

"Aidan," Reilly started, in a slow, depressing tone, "you've come so far. You can't just give it all up now. We can save Rex. We can get your father back. I know it." I sighed and continued to the helicopter. I opened the side door and looked back at Reilly over my shoulder.

"I know it, too," I said quietly. "My father may want to keep this technology a secret… but I can't take this anymore. I can't take anymore sleepless nights drowned in nightmarish images of what they could be doing to my father! I can't take the heartache anymore! If Eden wants to play this game with me then fine! I'll give him what he wants… but if I see that man face-to-face… I'll kill him. I will fucking kill him!" I slowly climbed into the helicopter and got myself as far back in the chopper as possible. Reilly and Charon spent a few more minutes standing outside in the wreckage. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it didn't matter. I knew it was about me. I knew that to them, I had quit, but to me, I had lost. I was too tired to think about it anymore. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the cold, metal back of the helicopter. I slowly drifted away into a deep sleep, which was something I desperately needed.

"Aidan," was the next thing I heard. I opened my eyes to a dimly light room. I was in a bed with a wrinkled-up cover over it and a small green light on a small nightstand next to it. Reilly must've took me here after I fell asleep in the helicopter. I was still so tired, but I knew I had no time to sleep anymore. I sat up and stopped. I wasn't wearing my armor anymore. All my armor, and all my weapons… they were gone. I was wearing nothing more than old ripped up pajamas, just like the ones I used to wear at home.

"Comfortable, Aidan?" asked a voice. I looked towards the door of the room and saw a man standing in the shadows. I instantly recognized the voice. I jumped from my bed and charged towards the doorway, a fire burning in my eyes. I clenched my fists, ready to jump onto the president and beat him to death with my bare knuckles. Only a few feet from the man I was stopped, frozen in my tracks. One of my legs was still in the air in my running position, and one fist was frozen in front of me. My body was completely numb, not an inch of me was moving. I was using as much force as I could to break this numbness and wrap my fingers around Eden's throat. However, no matter how hard a struggled, I couldn't move.

"Such a hot temper," he said to me, mockingly. "You're exactly like your father, you know that? He simply wouldn't tell us where the wreckage was. That fool. Looks like he and Rex will suffer the same fate." Tears started to well up in my eyes and my heart was blasting out of my chest. I couldn't move, couldn't fight, couldn't do anything. I closed my eyes and screamed as loud as I could.

"It's in Reilly's Compound!" I shouted. I opened my eyes again, in amazement. What had I done? I just gave into Eden. Just surrendered everything to him. Eden smiled at me and waved his hand to go on. "It's hidden away in a vault inside. The only way to get it is to activate all the computer terminals my father set up. We got the first one, and the other two are at the Museum of History and at Reilly's Compound." I had just spilled my guts to my greatest enemy. The worst part of it, is that it did it completely willingly.

"That's a good boy Aidan," he said to me, like a dog. Suddenly my leg began lowering back to the ground, and my hand fell to my side again. Tears started to stream from my eyes and I fell to my knees before the president. I simply sat there in front of him, crying like a baby, with my hands draped across the floor by my sides.

"Please!" I cried out. "Please give him back to me! I just want my Dad back! I want everything to be like it was before I left my house! I just want to go home!" I looked to my side and stared into a mirror on the wall. I watched my reflection fade in-and-out in between my tears. However, as each tear passed, something about my reflection would change. My pajamas turned into some old clothes that I used to wear. My facial hair shrunk and disappeared into my skin. I watched myself grow younger and younger until I was nothing more than I frightened child kneeling on the floor. Eden began laughing and folded his arms in triumph. I looked towards him as two bodies fell into the room on either side of him. One was Rex, and the other… my father. Both were bloodied and beaten until death. I stared in complete horror at the sight before me. Then, without warning, Eden dropped his arms back to his side and stared deep into my eyes.

"Checkmate… Mister Wolfe," he said quietly. His fingernails began to grow and his teeth started to become sharp and daggerlike. His skin turned scaly and he got taller and taller. A tail sprouted from his backside and his clothes tore away. I back away as the deathclaw in front of me reared its head back and let out an earsplitting roar. I covered my ears and screamed in complete fear. I slammed my eyes shut, hoping the scene would disappear. When I opened them… everything was gone. The only thing in front of me was a metal wall and some dust on the floor.

I quickly sat up and looked around. I was lying in a pool of sweat and tears in the back of Reilly's helicopter. I was once again wearing my armor, and both the Stealthshot and the Victory Rifle were lying at my side. The helicopter was starting to shake up and down as it began to land. I slowly stood up and looked out of the window on the side of the helicopter. I saw Reilly's Compound coming into view and settling next to us. The small computer monitor next to the main entrance to the compound seemed so important to me now. I slowly slid the door open and stared at the dim green screen.

"Can we just do it now?" asked a voice. I jumped and looked next to me, seeing Charon standing by my side. I looked up at him, solemnly. The nightmare was still shaking around in my mind like a hornet. I stared back at the door to Reilly's Compound and sighed.

"As much as I want to," I started, "my father's instructions were clear. The Museum has the next computer we need to activate. Besides, I don't even know what the code to this computer is. The holotape cut out before he said what the password was." Charon shook his head and stepped out of the helicopter. I followed, slowly jumping to the ground below, which scattered small pebbles and dirt in all directions. Just when I began to walk forward, Charon turned around and put his arms on the helicopter behind me, trapping me between them. He looked into my eyes with a sad look in his eyes.

"Aidan," he started, "I know what's going on right now is hard for you. You've never been subjected to anything like this before. You've never been asked of anything. Now, I know that giving up might seem like the best solution. I know what you want to do, and how you want to give in to Eden. If you decide to surrender this technology to Eden, that's your choice. Just remember the kind of things Eden has been known to do. You need to ask yourself what your father would do in this situation. Would he give in to Eden?" I looked away from Charon, not daring to look into his eyes again.

"I know you're disappointed in me, Charon," I said to him. "I just can't do this anymore. I want my father back. That's all. Fuck this wasteland. I don't care about it anymore. I don't care about these people living here that I don't know. All I want is my father back. All I want is Rex to be safe. I just want this to be over." Charon sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. He turned away from me and started to walk away.

"You know," he said quietly, "at one point you didn't know me. I was just some loner living in this fucking wasteland. But, I saved your life. These people that live out in the wasteland aren't just monsters and homeless freaks. They're actual, living, breathing, loving souls living in unfortunate circumstances. Under Eden's law, these people don't stand a chance. You have a chance to stop him. You're choice." Charon walked towards Reilly's Compound, leaving me alone next to the helicopter.

"Aidan?" a soft voice called out. I looked to my side and saw Reilly walking up to me. She stood next to me and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay? I heard you making all kind of noise in the back of the chopper while we were flying. Believe me, that's not easy when the rotors are going." I nodded and looked away from her.

"We need to get to the museum," I said to her. She nodded and patted me on the back.

"We'll get your father back," she said to me, assuring. "Rex will be okay. I promise everything will be fine." Once again, I nodded. I started to walk towards the compound, but turned and looked back at Reilly.

"Yes," I started, "everything will be fine. I will get my father back, and I will save Rex." I was silent for a moment before looking up into the sky. I took a deep breath and then stared back down at Reilly. I smirked and gave a small chuckle. "And if Eden thinks I'm giving in… he's in for a real unpleasant surprise."


	20. Face Your Demons

It was becoming an incredibly familiar feeling. The rocks shifting around near my feet as they scattered across the pavement. The burning sensation in my shins with each step. It was just something I knew I had to get used to. The broken down cars cluttering the streets of DC seemed so appealing to me. I tried to ignore the craving to stop at everyone and try to start it. Most of them were covered in ash and dust, with skeletons of past drivers leaning up against any remaining glass. In places the cars would fill the entire road, to the point where we would have to claw our way over them to continue on.

"How much farther?" I asked, exhausted. I knew we were getting close, considering we had been walking for over four hours. The Museum couldn't be far away. Charon looked into the sky, staring at the bright sun buried in the clouds.

"Judging by how close the Washington Monument is getting," Charon started, "I'd say we're only about an hour away. Hour-and-a-half tops." I stopped when we approached a turn in the road and pulled out my canteen. Finding clean water had become increasingly difficult over the past few days, leading to us taking in some of that radiated crap that polluted the wasteland. To Charon that shit was as good as anything, but I could tell it was slowly killing me. I was sweating more readily, I was getting frequent stomach aches, and my urine was starting to turn a sickly brown color. My father always told me to let him know when stuff like that would happen to me, but I hadn't told anyone. As far as I was concerned, it wasn't anyone else's problem.

"C'mon," Reilly said as she approached me. She put a hand on my back and tried to lead me forward. "We have to keep moving if we want to get this done in three days." I nodded and turned the corner in the road, around a building.

"Get away from there!" yelled a voice in the distance. I looked at the source of the noise before Charon grab my shoulder and tore me back behind the building. We hid behind the concrete foundation of the building and peeked out to see what caused the disturbance in the air. To my horror, I saw two men standing in the middle of the street leading us to the Museum. They were standing in what looked like a temporary camp, set up with large white crates and a large antenna standing next to a lookout platform. There was a giant metal box next to the camp with an electronic lock keeping it shut. The two men were dressed in distinctive black armor. Instantly we knew we were staring at two Enclave soldiers. The first soldier pushed the second away from the giant box and stood in between them.

"What?" asked the second soldier. "What did I do?"

"Stay away from the cage!" yelled the first. "You got some sort of death wish or something? If that thing gets its hand through one of the cracks in that crate your fucked. I'm not planning on cleaning up the pieces, either!" The second soldier dropped his head slightly and turned away. He looked back up at the giant crate and sighed.

"I just don't understand," he started. "We risk our asses to get that thing inside a box and stick some fucking hat on its head… for what? I thought our supplies of tranquilizers were going to run out before that thing hit the ground." The first soldier nodded and approached the lookout platform.

"Eden's sending a chopper to pick this thing up," he stated. "When it gets in range we have to pop the flare and signal it down." The first soldier started up the walkway to the platform and began typing onto a panel attached to the antenna. "Gunna be honest… I really can't wait until that thing is out of our hair. Creeps me the fuck out just having it around." The second soldier nodded and let his plasma rifle hang lazily by his side.

"You're telling me," he replied. "You know I saw one of those things in the wild one time near Raven Rock. The damn thing ran down a fleeing Yaou-Gai like it was a toddler. Watched that thing tear it apart as well. Tore through flesh like paper." The first soldier shook his head and sat down in a chair on top of the platform.

"Well don't start saying goodbye yet," he stated. "Chopper isn't going to be here for a few more hours. Remember to keep an eye out for any wanderers. Can't rule out it isn't that Aidan kid trying to fuck with us." The second soldier laughed and put his weapon down on one of the crates. He reached up to his shoulders and pulled off his helmet. He started chuckling a little as he pulled out a cigar and held a lighter up to it.

"Yeah," he started, "like that kid is really that much of a threat." He pulled the cigar up to his mouth and took a few puffs. "Far as I'm concerned, those stories about him are all hype. You know? Like some teenager from the Wastes could really take down a fully manned Enclave chopper." The first soldier started laughing and began fiddling with his laser rifle.

"You're telling me," he replied. "Oh, and I don't know if you heard this part… but apparently he didn't use bullets to do it." The second soldier looked up to the first in wonder as he took another puff of his cigar. "He used some kind of magic lighting that he kept in a tube." The second soldier put a hand on his forehead and broke out into laughter.

"No shit!" he yelled. "Well aren't we hunting a fucking miracle of nature!" The two kept laughing, as Charon and Reilly whispered behind me. I turned to them and joined in on their huddle.

"Could we just go around them?" asked Reilly.

"Technically, yes," replied Charon, "but if you want to shave a few hours off of our trip… I wouldn't suggest it. Besides they're about to guide down a chopper, and who knows what foot soldiers they'd have on that thing. If they roll out a sentry-bot we wouldn't stand a chance."

"So any other suggestions?" Reilly asked, a little annoyed. Charon thought for a moment before I chimed it.

"We go straight through them," I suggested. "They're just two guards, probably tired, and not really focused on attackers. We can easily take them. Also, it sounds like they've been patrolling for a while, which means they must have some supplies in those crates they have set up." Charon looked at Reilly and nodded slightly. I reached onto my back and pulled out the Victory Rifle. I gave it a small polish and then creeped back to the side of the building. I aimed it towards the two guards and tried to line up a shot.

"Go for the one on the platform," Reilly commanded. "The other one put down his weapon. It will take him longer to pick it up to attack us." I nodded and aimed at the first soldier up on the platform. I looked at each part of his body, deciding which part I had the best chance of hitting. I decided on his chest, and lined up the crosshairs. I waited for my hands to stop shaking so I could get a clear shot. When I could finally maintain my grip I took a deep breath and held in my air. I squeezed the trigger and fired a round straight where I was aiming. The soldier flew off of his chair and tumbled over the side of the platform. The second soldier dropped his cigar and looked around in fear. I saw him look down at his weapon and knew I didn't have much time. I aimed at him, but didn't have enough time to hold my breath. I fired out of adrenaline, and by some string of luck managed to hit him in the right thigh.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled. The man fell face-first onto the pavement and gripped his leg. Blood was running through his fingers as he tried to hold his femur together. He turned to try and grab his gun, but was greeted with the bottom of Charon's boot slamming into his face. The soldier's head snapped back and slapped against the concrete ground. Charon knelt down over the man and grabbed his armor. He pulled the man up so their faces were only inches apart.

"You better tell me something juicy or I'm putting a bullet straight between your eyes!" he yelled. The man was silent for a moment before snapping his head forward and spitting directly in Charon's face. Charon grunted and threw the man to the ground while wiping the saliva from his cheek. Reilly stepped on the soldier's chest and fired three rounds into his heart. I ran up to the temporary base and began rummaging through the crates.

"Damn," I said quietly to myself. "No water."

"You say something, Aidan?" asked Reilly. I quickly closed the crate and composed myself.

"No," I replied. "Nothing." Charon pulled some stimpaks and radaway out of the second crate and threw them to Reilly. He charged up the ramp to the platform and approached the panel on the antenna. He fastened his shotgun to his back and began typing away. I was watching him, when suddenly his split in two, and then in four. Everything became blurry and started to spin a little. I put a hand on my head and closed my eyes, but couldn't shake the dizziness. I fell from my stance and tumbled to the ground.

"Aidan!" Reilly yelled. She ran to me and started to help me off the ground. I opened my eyes again as things started to return to normal. "Are you okay?" I got back to my feet and tried to regain my balance.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just got a little dizzy there for a second." Reilly was helping me stand, but a pushed her away. I didn't need anyone thinking I was sick or something. I looked back at Charon as he leapt down from the platform, landing on one knee in front of me. He stood up straight and approached us.

"Well I got some good news and I got some bad news," he started… which was never a good thing. "The bad news is a distress call was sent out when the soldiers were fired upon. It called in a few helicopters to see what was going on. However, the good news is I managed to jam up their signal a little bit before it could give them the proper coordinates."

"So what you're saying is that they know we're around… but don't know where?" asked Reilly. Charon shrugged and clicked his toungue.

"Well… actually, they know we're in this general area… just not the specifics," he replied. "My guess is they'll be heading to the Monument, and should be there in about an hour-and-a-half. So if we hurry we can get into the Museum by then… and I know a good place to hide out in there." I nodded and Reilly did the same.

"Alright then," I started, "let's get over there. Rex and my father can't wait any longer." We turned away from the camp and started to continue along the road, when a sound shot through the air and froze me in my tracks. It was a low-pitched moan that made my blood freeze in my veins, and my heart skip a beat. My hand lost its grip on the Stealthshot and let it tumble to the ground at my feet. Charon and Reilly stopped a few steps ahead of me and turned to make sure I was okay.

"The hell is wrong with you?" asked Charon. "Look like you've seen a ghost or something." I couldn't move. I was paralyzed by that sound. It was so familiar… almost too familiar. I slowly turned and looked back at the camp behind me. I started ominously at the metal cage that stood near the platform. Every now and again and small rattle of metal or a tiny scratch would come from within. The small roar was echoing in my brain and filling my mind. I began approaching the cage, in a trance-like state. I was slowly getting closer, inch-by-inch. The giant metal doors on the front were electronically locked, but had four giant holes on each corner. Whatever was inside was big enough to not be able to squeeze through them. All I had to do was look through the hole. All I wanted was to know what was inside.

"Aidan!" called out Reilly. "We don't have time for this! Let's go!" Her voice sounded so distant to me, like she was miles away. I was getting closer to the cage as my anticipation to find out what was inside started to grow. I almost knew what was inside… but feared it more than anything. Before I knew it, I was there. The holes were coming into view and revealing more of the inside of the cage with every step I took. Suddenly the metal gave way to something else. A scaly brown skin stretched over something. I started to move to get a better look when something shot from the cage at me. It tore through the hole and reached out for me. My heart stopped and my body locked in fear. My eyes shot open and I my breathing completely stopped. A blood-curdling scream sliced through the air around me, shattering the silence like a gunshot. The hand reached for me with all its might but was stopped only inches short. The long, sharp claws were slicing away in front of me, trying anything to tear away my flesh.

"AIDAN!" yelled Charon. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THERE!"

"OH MY GOD!" Reilly screamed. "WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!"

"AIDAN GET DOWN!" The screaming was still so faint, for the only noise in my head was the piercing roar. However, the next I thing I felt was Charon's weight being thrown against me and knocking me to the ground. Charon held me on the ground away from the demon as it started to pull its arm back into the cage. My eyes were still locked open and everything started to fade. Charon was look down at me and shaking me, trying to wake me up.

"Aidan!" he yelled. "C'mon, man! You have to get up! You're okay, please, just get up!" Reilly ran into my frame of vision and was staring at the cage.

"What was that?" she asked in shock. My eyes started to close as Charon's head melted away into the sky behind him. I opened my mouth and breathed out one last time.

"D… deathclaw." That's when I fainted.


	21. The World Unknown

"Just leave him alone, okay? Believe me, he'll be fine. Which is amazing to me… considering you humans are just so fragile." I could hear the voices around me, whispering about who knows what. However, the thing that hit me first, was how quiet it was behind them. There was no gunfire, no birds, no running water… just silence. I slowly opened me eyes and stared up at something I didn't expect… a ceiling. Over my head was a deep yellow ceiling, with decorative molding wherever it hit a wall. The room I was in smelt of rubbing alcohol, with a touch of mold. I turned my head to the side and saw three people standing in a circle not far from me. I recognized two of the three immediately, but whoever Charon and Reilly were talking to was a mystery.

"Thank you, Dr. Barrows," Reilly said softly. "I don't what we'd do without you." The doctor nodded his head and shook hands with Reilly.

"It's what I do ma'am," he replied, "and remember, you and the Rangers are always welcome here." Reilly smiled and looked at me. When her eyes met mine a giant smile appeared on her face and she started charging towards me.

"You're awake!" she yelled. She ran to the side of the cot I was lying on and put her hands on my shoulders. "Do you feel okay?" I lifted my arms and put my hands flat on the bed at my side. I pushed myself up so I was sitting and put my legs over the side of the bed.

"Yeah," I responded. "I think I'm okay." Reilly hugged me and put her head on my shoulder. Charon walked towards me and put out his hand. I took it and he pulled me up to my feet. He put his arm around my shoulders and patted me, pulling me close while he did it.

"You just can't stay on your feet, can you?" he asked jokingly. I laughed a little and looked away from him. Reilly stepped back and examined me, wondering what was going through my mind.

"What's wrong, Aidan?" she asked. Images of the deathclaw we saw earlier were flashing through my head. Images of its gruesome hands and sharp talons stabbed at my brain.

"I just don't understand," I replied, solemnly. "Why did the Enclave have that deathclaw with them? What are they doing with it?" Charon shrugged and walked to the door of the room we were in.

"As far as I'm concerned," he started, "it ain't my problem kid. Fact of the matter is, we're in the perfect spot to get this show on the road." I looked at Reilly in confusion and then back at Charon. I walked towards him as he opened the door into the next room.

"Where are we, Charon?" I asked. I got to the door and stared in amazement at what I saw. Before me was a gigantic room filled with people, walking around, talking, and trading. Giant statues constructed of welded metal and plaster were erected in the center of the room, and multiple artworks were hanging on the walls. However, the most amazing part was who the people in the room were. All of them had deteriorated flesh and little-to-no hair on their heads. Their noses were torn off and their eyes were white beads sunk into their faces. They were ghouls… all of them.

"We're in the best place in this god forsaken city, kid," he replied. "Welcome to Underworld! The city of ghouls!" I was standing in pure shock, staring at the marvel before me. These ghouls were walking around, mingling, shaking hands, like there was absolutely nothing wrong with them.

"What's the problem?" asked Dr. Barrows. I turned around and watched Barrows pull down his medical mask, revealing that he, too, was a ghoul. "You never seen a ghoul before?" I was still in awe at the situation and looked back into the main room.

"Charon," I started, "this is incredible."

"You're telling me, kid," he replied while also looking out into the main room. "In here, we're not judged by anyone on how we look. We're all monsters. However, if we're all monsters… then no one is a monster." I stepped into the large room, which was filled with the faint scent of mold and dust. As I walked through people would stop in their conversations to give me a quick once over, before turning back and going on with their business.

"So are humans like the ghouls here?" I asked. "Am I the oddity to everyone here?" Charon smiled and slapped me on the back.

"I wish!" he yelled. "You're basically just another smoothskin who got lost and came wandering in here. Or someone running away from the supermutants. We ghouls don't get bothered by them… usually. There have been times where those supermutants get a little too… you know… hungry." I nodded and started to walk forward, but was still looking at Charon. Suddenly I bumped into someone, making them step backwards and regain their balance.

"Hey!" he yelled out. I looked at him and put up my hands. "Watch where you're going smoothskin!"

"Sorry," I said, quickly. "Wasn't watching where I was going." The ghoul brushed off his clothes, despite how dirty they already were. He folded his arms and examined me armor.

"A ranger, huh?" he asked. "Well, then I guess you're okay in my book." He held out his hand which I met with a friendly shake. "Names Winthrop. I'm the mechanic here in Underworld. I keep this whole place running, from the Chop Shop to the Ninth Circle." Winthrop looked at Charon and smiled a little. "Sorry, buddy," he said to him. "Ahzrukhal still isn't back. Believe me, if anyone will let you know when that guy comes back… its me. You'll probably just hear me complaining. I mean honestlg. I mean honestly, Charon, what do you want that guy for so bad? Next thing you know you'll be up in Carol's Place rubbing Mr. Crowley's feet."

"Enough!" yelled Charon. "He may be a stinking sack of crap, but that guy is all I got left! You hear?" Winthrop sighed and slowly nodded.

"Sorry, man," he said, shamefully. "It'd just be a shame to see a friend go out like that." Charon nodded and started to reply, when a voice rang out in the large room.

"Charon!" it screamed, "Charon is that you?" I turned and looked up a staircase, to see a ghoul standing at the top. She was wearing a long dress, maybe trying to look beautiful… which wasn't working very well.

"Greta!" Charon yelled back. Greta starting running down the stairs and Charon charged to meet her. At the bottom of the stairs Charon swept Greta up into the air and spun her in circles.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you turned down our invite to Underworld." Charon smiled and put Greta back onto her feet.

"I'll be here soon enough, baby," he said to her. "First I got a friend to help out." I smiled and nodded to Greta, who in turn smiled back. Charon lifted his hand and put up a finger. He began shaking it at me, and still had a small grin across in face. "In fact," he started, "I think you should take a look at where we really are, kid." I looked in confusion and Charon pointed towards two large doors at the end of the room, opposite from Barrow's office. I looked quizzically at Charon, before slowly approaching the two metal doors. I put my hands on the cold metal and pushed with all my might. The doors started creaking and eventually gave way into an even larger room. However, wonder and confusions quickly transformed into hope and happiness.

"We're… we're here," I said quietly. Before me was a gigantic room, and standing, in the middle , was a huge statue of a wooly mammoth. I thought back to the holotape I found in Old Olney, and the message written on it. The second computer, hidden under the statue of a wooly mammoth. I slowly approached the statue and stared at the mighty creature. I looked down at the base and began circling it, looking for something that resembled a computer screen. Panel after panel passed by, until one stuck out, being a slight shade darker than the others. I got to one knee and reached out to grab it. My father seemed so close.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU DOING!" shouted a voice. I looked up as a big mechanical arm swung down and hit me in the chest. I slid on my back across the floor, the Stealthshot sliding away from me, and the Victory Rifle pinned under my back. "These are ancient artifacts! I can't allow you to damage history, itself!"

"You," I started, "you're a robot!" The robot was a floating ball held in the air by a jet underneath it. It had three long metal arms, each of which had some sort of weapon on the end of it. Three big yellow disks were supported by poles on its body that must have acted as eyes.

"Of course I'm a robot!" he yelled. "A robot ready to kick some commy ass from New York to Cincinnati!"

"Woah, woah!" yelled Winthrop as he came running into the room. "Chill out there, Cerberus. He's not going to hurt the artifacts." Cerberus looked at Winthrop and then back at me.

"Consider yourself lucky!" he yelled. "Next time Cerberus gets off his chain he's going to bite your legs off!" The robot quickly turned away and started to head back to the main room. I sat up and rubbed my head, shaking off the brutal attack. "And no littering!" Cerberus cried out. I looked back at him, but instead was greeted by the sight of the Stealthshot barreling towards me. It hit me in the forehead and fell to the ground next to me. I grabbed my head and yelled in pain.

"That's some robot you got there, Winthrop," Charon complimented. Winthrop nodded and watched Cerberus head back into Underworld.

"He's got a few bugs," he replied, "but he keeps us pretty safe."

"Can we just open the damn computer!" I yelled in anger. Charon grunted and kneeled down next to the stature.

"Jeez," he started, "touchy." Charon tore the panel off of the base, revealing an old computer, completely covered by dust.

"Wow," Winthrop chimed in, "how long has that been there?" I crawled to the screen and pulled out the dust covered keyboards. I blew away some of the dust, revealing the letters. I typed in the word one letter at a time, very slowly. R-E-I-L-L-Y. The keyboard quickly sucked back into the base of the statue and the screen turned a deep black, before the words Password Accepted popped up on the screen. I stood up and looked down at the screen, as Charon put the panel back over it.

"Hey guys!" yelled Reilly as she ran into the room. "Are we all set?" I looked at Charon and gave a small smile.

"Almost," I replied. "Now we need to head back to your Compound to type in the last password. Then the door will open." Reilly put up her hand, stopping me and then started approaching me. She got very close to me and put her arm around my shoulders.

"Got a surprise for you, Aidan," she said finally. She reached into a pouch on her armor and pulled out a small radio. She lifted it to her mouth and clicked a button on the side. "Donovan! Donovan can you read me?" We waited more a few minutes before a voice echoed out from the small, black box.

"This is Donovan, Reilly, I got you loud and clear," he shouted back. Reilly smiled and started to walk away from Charon and I.

"Are you at the rally point?" she asked.

"Roger," was the only reply. Reilly nodded and looked back at us. She motioned us to follow along and then started running away from Underworld. Charon and I looked at each other and took off after her. We chased her down and met her at the entrance to the Museum of History.

"Rex would never have let me do this," he started, "but he's not here right now… is he?" Reilly threw open the doors, revealing an Enclave helicopter waiting outside for us. A ranger sat in the cockpit, ready to take off. Reilly ran towards the helicopter and jumped inside. "C'mon!" she yelled. "Max and Rex aren't going to save themselves!" I started to walk towards the helicopter, but noticed Charon was no longer next to me. I turned around and saw him in the museum, locked in an embrace with Greta. The slowly separated and Charon started to turn away. It was hard to hear over the rotors on the chopper, but I could almost see the words the Charon mouthed to Greta.

"I love you." Charon turned away and ran towards the entrance where I was standing. He saw I had been watching him and stuck his finger into my face. "Tell Reilly about that and I'll kill you." He ran from the entrance and jumped into the chopper, next to Reilly. I smiled at the sight and charged right along with them. I hopped up next to Charon and he quickly slid the door closed.

"Alright, Donovan!" yelled Reilly. "Get us back to the compound!" The helicopter slowly lifted off the ground and made its way into the sky. It cut through the clouds like a knife and sailed through the air. I sat down in the helicopter, with several things on my mind. However, two of them forced their way to the top of the list. When we landed at Reilly's Compound I would have to type in the last password… but I had no idea what it was. The holotape cut out right before he revealed it. However, the second thing on my mind, was more of a realization than a problem. After all of the fear, the fighting, the heartbreak, the tears, the sights, the people, the travel, the pain, the friends, the enemies, and the losses…

…. the secret was finally going to be revealed.


	22. The Secret Revealed

The chopper slowly came to a landing in front of Reilly's Compound. This should have seemed like an easy task. I mean, go to the computer right in the front of the compound, not hidden, not guarded… just sitting there. Then all I had to do was type in a password and the door to whatever mystery my father had been protecting would just swing open for me. Then all I had to do was find out where the Enclave is hiding out and give Eden a beating he'll never forget… easy right? However, one tiny little thing was standing in my way of completing my mission… I had no clue what the final password to the computer was. The holotape my father had left completely cut out before the final password was spoken. The only clue I had was that the password is what he and his girlfriend decided to call something. My father always told me he never dated anyone other than my mother… but I couldn't be sure he was telling the truth.

The door to the helicopter opened, revealing the scene of several Rangers standing around the main entrance to Reilly's Compound. On the left side of the door was the famous computer. Reilly stood next to me on the helicopter, staring at the sight before her.

"It always seemed so useless," she said under her breath. "I never knew it had something to do with the wreckage." I stepped out of the helicopter and made my way towards the door. When I reached it I pressed a small button under the screen, making a keyboard extend outwards, inviting me to type in the password.

"So what's the password, Aidan?" asked Charon as he jumped out of the helicopter. I hesitated and then turned to look at him.

"I… I don't know," I replied. The area went silent as whispering among the rangers suddenly stopped. Charon's mouth dropped open and Reilly put her hand on her forehead.

"You don't know!" yelled Charon. "How can you not know what the last password is!"

"The holotape cut out before my father said it!" I yelled back. "It isn't my fault!" Reilly stepped between Charon and I and pushed us further from each other.

"Alright!" she yelled. "Everyone just calm down!" She gave Charon a sharp look and then turned to me. "Aidan," she started, "is there any clue at all to what the password might be." I sighed and pulled out the holotape. I clicked a button on the side and it began to play.

"The final computer is located just outside Reilly's compound. The password is what my girlfriend and I decided to… oh shit… they're…" I clicked the button again before I had to hear anything else.

"It cuts out there," I replied. "He never says what the password is." Charon put his hand on his chin and started to think.

"Maybe it's the first place they decided to live," he suggested.

"No," replied Reilly. "He said 'what' they decided, not 'where.'" Charon grunted and turned away. I, too, was trying desperately to think of what the password could be. Charon looked up into the sky and then back down at me and Reilly.

"I think it might be safe to assume that the password is a name," she stated. "The other two have been important names in his life… why not the third?" I nodded and started thinking harder.

"Well," Charon started, "if you two are going to come up with the password, you'd better do it fast. Eden is giving us three days, and the sun's already setting on day two." I looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was indeed setting… and that's when it hit me.

"That's it," I said quietly. "That's it! The sun! The sun!" I turned the computer and ran up to the keyboard. I cracked my fingers and prepared to type in the password.

"The sun?" asked Reilly. She looked at Charon who shrugged.

"Don't you see?" I asked. "The sun. What he and his girlfriend decided to call their son. My mother was pregnant before my father and my mother got married! The password is the name of their son." I reached up to the keyboard and slowly typed in the letters. A-I-D-A-N. The keyboard shot back into the computer and the screen turned pitch black. Then there was stillness in the air. Everyone around me was staring at the black screen, praying for something else. Then almost magically the words 'password approved' popped up on the screen in bright green letters. Suddenly the letters gave way to another message reading… 'defenses shut down.' My hands were still hovering over the keyboard… shaking a little. My eyes were locked on those glowing words. The sheer reality of the situation still settling into my mind. Suddenly the area around me erupted into cheers and yells as the rangers cried out in triumph. A smile shot over my face as Charon ran up behind me and hoisted me up into the air.

"You did it, kid!" Charon yelled. "You did it! We're in!" Charon put me back down and punched my arm in happiness. I stumbled backwards and was caught by Reilly. She hugged me in a warm embrace and waved me around. She held me close and shouted out in happiness.

"Aidan!" she screamed. "We did it!" I smiled and pushed her away to get closer to the door, leading me to the secret that had been hidden for so long. I reached for the door and quickly pushed it open. It gave in to a long, dark hallway. Water was leaking down the walls, and the hallway seemed to never end.

"This is the compound?" I asked quietly. Reilly stood next to me and patted me on the shoulder.

"Yup," she replied. "Home sweet home. Nothing like it. Sure it's a piece of shit out in the middle of DC… but it's _my _piece of shit out in the middle of DC." She chuckled a little and walked into the tunnel. I sighed and followed, and Charon did the same. The three of us slowly walked down the long hallway in a tight single file. Each time we stepped an echo would ring out down the tunnel. Finally we reached a staircase, taking us further into the everlasting darkness. Normally I would have been scared, but Reilly was walking with such confidence, that I knew I had no reason to feel fear.

"So Reilly," started Charon, "when are we going to reach this secret room? We must be nearing the center of the Earth by now."

"Funny Charon," Reilly retorted. "Why in such a rush? You seemed to take an extra long time with Greta leaving Underworld earlier." Charon put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me backwards.

"I made it clear I was going to kill you if you said anything," he started. I shrugged and kept walking, but heard Charon pull out his shotgun and cock it. "And we were so close, too." We finally reached the end of the staircase and Reilly came to an abrupt stop.

"Well," she began, "this is it. This is where Maximus and I stored the wreckage." I walked up next to her and took a deep breath. Before us was a giant metal door, clamped shut. Next to it was a rectangular pad with a red light illuminated. There was a small button on the bottom of the pad, seemingly meant to open the door. I walked up to it and looked deep into the glowing red light. Next to it was another light bulb, but dimmed.

"So…" started Charon, "press the button already."

"Calm down, Charon," started Reilly. "I've sat in that spot for hours pressing that button. It's never opened. If we did everything right… this time should be different." I took a deep breath and slowly lifted my hand. I rested it on the top of the panel and let my thumb hover over the button. I closed my eyes and pressed the button. It felt like hours passed before I opened my eyes again. When I did the red light had gone out… and instead the light next to it was glowing bright green. Suddenly a circle in the center of the door began spinning and giant metal bars starting sliding from the middle of the door to the sides. The door split straight down the middle and slid to the right and left, revealing the room behind it. The room was dark and empty, but in the center of the room was a pedestal. A solitary light was shining down onto it, and on the pedestal was what I had come for.

"That… that… that's it?" I asked. On the pedestal was a small pistol. It was a spherical shape with the handle coming out the bottom. The sides of the pistol were glowing a dim blue color, but that was the only thing remotely noticeable. I slowly walked into the room and up to the pedestal. I picked up the gun and gave it a once over.

"This isn't right," Reilly said quietly. "This isn't the wreckage. There should be more. Where is it? There definitely should be more." I sighed and started to the lower the weapon.

"This is what Eden took my father for?" I asked, angry. "He kidnapped my father, stole Rex away from us… for this little pistol?" Charon entered the room and shook his head slowly.

"Aidan," he started, "I'm sorry. Maybe this just isn't the right place. Or maybe Reilly did just see a mirage out there in the wasteland."

"NO!" she yelled. "I saw it! I helped move that thing all the way here! I swear there's more!"

"There's no more!" I yelled at Reilly. "This is all that's in the fucking room! This goddamned pistol!" In my rage I accidentally pulled the trigger on the weapon, and was instantly caught off guard. I was blown backwards and fell down onto my backside. A blue laser flew from the weapon and slammed into the wall on the other side of the room. The steel wall turned bright red and disappeared before my eyes. All that was left was a hole with bright red liquid metal on the rim. I stared in amazement at the wall and Reilly ran to my side.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I slowly nodded and brushed myself off. I pushed the gun away from me and got to my feet.

"What the hell is that thing?" I asked. Reilly shrugged and helped me regain my balance.

"Guys!" Charon called out. "You might want to come check this out… you know… so I don't think I'm completely insane." Reilly and I looked at each other and then ran to the hole in the wall where Charon was standing. We looked into the next room, and were instantly overcome with silence. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open at the sight. It was real. Everything Reilly and my father had built up… it was all true. Before me was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, and I didn't think anything would be topping it soon.

"Is that… what I think it is?" I asked quietly. In the room behind the steel wall was a giant object. It was in the shape of a disc with a giant sphere in the center. The sphere was constructed of glass and was completely shattered. Metal on the disc was peeled backwards and charred from who-knows-what. Inside the glass sphere were several controls and a large chair, seemingly made of leather. It hinted that this giant machine before me was some sort of vehicle. I shook my head and stared at the saucer. Suddenly my legs started shaking and have out underneath me. I fell to my knees and continued staring, my mouth completely agape.

"This is it," Reilly said quietly.

"The wreckage," Charon added, also staring at the ship.

"That wasn't made by man… was it?" I asked, still on my knees. Reilly sighed and looked away from the ship.

"I have to be honest with you, Aidan," she began. "The ship isn't what forced us to construct this room. Was caused your father and I to hide this away from humanity." I looked up at her, taking my eyes off the ship for the first time. She pointed across the room at something that was giving off a dim green radiance in the dark room. I got to my feet and stared at the strange object. It was a tank, filled with liquid. Lights in the tank were making it glow that eerie green color. I started walking towards the tank, staring quizzically at it. I got within inches of it, not seeing anything strange about it.

"What's so strange about this?" I asked. Suddenly a face appeared in the liquid and stared blankly into my eyes. I screamed and jumped backwards, falling onto my backside in the process. Inside the tank was a figure, shaped like a human but smaller. Its skin was a mossy green and its eyes were pitch black. Its head was abnormally large and its mouth was more like a beak than a regular mouth with lips. It was wearing a tight silver suit with a long zipper down the front.

"Is that," Charon yelled out, "an ALIEN!" I stared in disbelief and started to slide away from the tank. I slowly got my feet and kept my eyes on the figure floating in the glowing liquid.

"Reilly…" I started quietly. "This… this is… it isn't reality. There's no way this can be happening." Reilly sighed and stood next to me.

"It is, Aidan," she said quietly. "Maximus and I came across this wreckage out in the Wasteland. The crashed ship was holding all of this technology. When we brought in a chopper to take the wreckage back here, we found the body lying underneath." Reilly slowly walked towards the tank and stared into the eyes of the corpse behind the glass. She closed her eyes and put her hand on the glass between her and the being on the other side.

"Why?" Charon called out. "Why did it come here? Why is there an alien on Earth?"

"Charon," Reilly started, "there's a lot of questions about this thing. I don't know the answers to any of them. Why it came here, where it came from, I'll probably never know. Maximus had a firm belief that these questions didn't need to be asked by everyone on Earth… until we've managed to rebuild our society. When we can understand ourselves… we can start learning about them." I looked at the alien and then the weapon lying on the floor from when I shot the wall. I slowly approached it and picked it up off the ground. I sighed and lowered the weapon to my side.

"We can't let Eden get this technology," I slowly replied. I looked at Reilly and nodded to her. "Listen, Reilly. I have an idea. By the end of today, we'll have Rex and my father back… and Eden will no longer be our president."


	23. A Shattered Line

One minute, I was standing in the dark chamber under Reilly's Compound, staring at the marvels of an alien civilization, the next, I was miles and miles away, standing outside of our landed helicopter, with armed soldiers completely surrounding us. Each one aimed their plasma rifles at us with the triggers already halfway pressed. Their helmets couldn't disguise the look each individual soldier was giving us. Some seemed somewhat sympathetic that a boy and two innocent wastelanders had got wrapped up in this, while others stared into my eyes with the intentions of turning me into a smoldering pile of glowing goo at any moment. Beyond the guards were two giant metal doors, clamped shut to the point where dust couldn't even find its way in. Reilly told me they led into the Enclave's secret base… at Raven Rock.

"Put your hands where I can see them!" yelled one of the soldiers. "No sudden moves, or we'll have to move you out of here with a mop!" I looked at Reilly and gave a slight nod. I reluctantly put up my hands, as did Charon and Reilly. Once our hands were in the air, three soldiers approached us and started taking our weaponry. I felt myself get lighter as the Stealthshot and the Victory Rifle were taken away. Charon lost his knife and his shotgun, and Reilly was deprived of her assault rifle. The soldier with me handed my weapons over to another soldier, before looking into my eyes. I could barely make out his pupils behind the yellow-tinted glass of his helmet, but I knew they were glaring directly at me.

"You," he said under his breath, not letting the others hear him, "you killed two of my friends. Believe me when I say that I'm not letting you leave this place alive." I watched him give me another once over, and then lock his eyes on my belt. "Hey!" he shouted. "We have another weapon here!" The guards went back on alert as the soldier with me reached down and took away what was strapped to my belt. "It looks like a gun… but nothing I've seen before."

"It's not a weapon," I said calmly. "That's what we have for Eden." The soldier looked at it and then back to his fellow guards.

"This thing?" he asked me. "This is what Eden wants?"

"No!" yelled a voice. "It's not." The southern accent of the person talking quickly gave away his identity. "At least, that's not the only thing I want." I looked at the two giant metal doors to see a man standing in front of them. He was wearing a long black coat over his well-kept pinstripe suit. His expression was hidden by dark black sunglasses and a thing white moustache striped over his upper lip. The guards started to get on one knee as the man made his way towards us. Charon started to chuckle and I turned to see a small smile on his face.

"Well, well," he started, "if it isn't the man I spend hours listening to on the radio." The man smiled at Charon and gave a nod. "Not that I want to, it's just those damned balls flying around the wasteland, spitting out your shit like no tomorrow."

"The eyebots have their job of protecting the wastelanders, while producing an uplifting and patriotic message," he replied.

"Enough with your fucking drawl, Eden," Reilly shouted out. "We want our friends back, now!" Eden lifted his arm and motioned forward. Two men came from behind him, one wearing a shining Enclave armor with lighting flying between rods on his shoulders. He was holding a giant Gatling Laser and never took his eyes off of me. The second man was the man I was most looking forward to meeting. The man that brought me into this entire mess… the man who kidnapped my father.

"To my right is my Military Commander, Triton," he stated. The man in the glowing armor nodded to me and finally looked away. "I'm sure you all know my associate, Colonel Autumn?"

"The pleasure's all mine," I said quietly. Autumn looked into my eyes and smiled at me. The three walked towards us and stood only a few feet away. Autumn in front of Reilly, Triton before Charon, and Eden standing only inches away from me. Eden reached out his arm and the alien technology was given to him.

"It's a fascinating little device," he said calmly. "What does it do?" I put down my hands and grunted.

"I could show you, if you would just give it back to me," I replied. I reached out for it, but Triton quickly reached out and grabbed my wrist. He threw me to the ground and gripped his Gatling Laser. He aimed it at me and the end started glowing red.

"Careful what you do around the President, kid," he said in a voice that his suit altered. He sounded half robotic, disguising his voice. "This thing will cut through you with a Vengeance, and I promise that." I slowly stood back up as Triton turned the laser away from me.

"Stand down soldiers," Eden yelled to his foot-soldiers all around us. He looked me in the eye and straightened his glasses. "Where is the rest of the wreckage, Mister Wolfe?"

"It's as far as we could get it," I replied. "Our helibird was too outdated to carry us and the wreckage all the way here. We dropped it in a town to the northeast, by an overpass." Eden nodded and turned to one of his soldiers.

"Go and retrieve it," he commanded. "Take as many birds as you need." He looked back at me in a very condescending way. "And what praytell was the name of this town?" I almost wanted to smile, but didn't let it slip.

"Old Olney," I said quietly. Eden nodded and then turned away from me… a gutsy move. I don't care if I was immediately lit up… but I could've taken him down right then.

"I want Mister Wolfe to come with me. Reilly and the ghoul stay here. Don't let them leave the premises until Mister Wolfe and I return. Should Wolfe come out of that structure without me at his side… you are authorized to engage with deadly force." The soldiers nodded and looked back at Charon and Reilly. Eden turned around and started walking towards the massive gates to Raven Rock. I slowly looked back at my friends and nodded to them. I turned back to Eden, catching eyes with the soldier that ensured my death only moments ago. I slowly followed Eden, with Autumn and Triton right behind me. We made our way inside, and an eerie feeling came over me. The ground below my feet turned from dirt, to metal, and the common sounds of the wasteland simply vanished. I was in their territory now, with no weapons… and no way out.

"Welcome to Raven Rock," Eden said slowly. "The headquarters of the Enclave." I didn't want to show any admiration, but the inside of Raven Rock was truly a spectacle. All the hallways were glowing, and the place seemed alive with technology. Doors would magically spin and fly open, letting soldiers pass without them having to lift a finger. All the soldiers pacing around were wearing high-tech armor, with plasma rifles and laser pistols at the ready. The ceilings were a puzzle of wires and electrical surges would fly from one to a another and snake their way down the hall.

"As you can plainly see, Aidan," Autumn began, "Raven Rock is the pinnacle of the latest technology. The Enclave needs to be at the top of all advancements."

"And why is that?" I asked as we continued down hallways and through doors. Almost every large doorway was guarded by sentry bots, who seemed to stare at me as I passed.

"The Enclave, as powerful as it is, does have enemies out there," Eden replied. "The Brotherhood of Steel has quickly inserted themselves as our greatest threat. They're advancement in technology rivals our own, and we can't allow them to can the upper hand. Unfortunately for you, we know that you have been partnering with the Brotherhood in previous occasions, and we cannot allow the alien technology to fall into their hands."

"Well now you have it," I said impatiently. "So I want my half of the bargain! Where is my friend… and where the fuck is my father!" Eden stopped and put his hand on a panel to a doorway. The panel scanned his palm and turned green. I watched the door slide open and reveal its contents. Inside was a massive computer screen, with gadgets and keyboards surrounding it. We were on a walkway, stories above the floor below. The computer screen was a blank blue, with one line of green across the middle. The door slid closed behind us as Eden approached the massive screen.

"This is what we hope to achieve, Mister Wolfe," Eden said quietly. "This computer is the Enclave. This computer is what we hope the alien technology can improve. It is the greatest technological achievement mankind has ever produced. The products of a civilization greater than our own could only improve it." He turned back to me and folded his arms behind his back. "Being the situation is so pressing, I cannot allow you be rejoined with your father, until the wreckage is safely transported back to Raven Rock. Once all the technology is received and accounted for, we will release both him and you." He motioned to Triton to move forward. Eden put out his hand and Triton handed him the alien blaster.

"I would be careful with that," I called out. Eden took the device and looked it over.

"Why is that?" he asked. "What does it do?" I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm not really sure yet," I replied. "I tinkered with it a bit, but nothing really happened. I was close to getting it to activate. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's a beacon to other alien ships." Eden looked at me with wondrous eyes, imagining the possibilities. "It may be the key to contact." Eden looked at the blaster again and then at Autumn.

"Well?" he questioned me. "What did you do?" I shook my head and put up my hands.

"I don't really remember," I claimed. "I just messed with a few things." Eden approached me and handed me the blaster.

"Do it again," he said quietly. "I want to see these aliens with my own eyes. Call them here, so they can join the Enclave." I took the alien blaster and twisted the blue cylinder on the side. The blaster started to glow blue as it began heating up.

"If I show you how this works," I started, "can I at least see my father?" Eden looked at Autumn and Triton and then smirked.

"Of course you can," he replied. I smiled and aimed the blaster at the door behind me. Eden's eyes widened and Triton gripped his gattling laser.

"On second thought," I said, "I think I'll find him myself." I fired the alien blaster and a huge beam of blue light flew from the end and slammed into the door. The door formed a huge circle in the middle, with bright orange from the molten metal outlining it. Two sentry bots on the other side of the door were split in half, with the same melting affect happening to them. Triton was blown backwards from the force and the gattling laser slipped from his hands. I quickly jumped through the hole in the door and ran down the hall.

"After him!" yelled Eden. "Don't let him get away!" I fired rapidly as I ran, either taking out giant pieces of metal and wire or reducing soldiers to glowing blue piles of ash on the ground. After a while, soldiers stopped chasing and firing at me, and instead ducked behind cover and dropped their weapons to the floor. The power of unknown technology was too great for them, and fear was starting to give me an advantage. I began opening doors as I went down hallways, quickly looking in each room before continuing on.

"Stop!" yelled a voice from behind me. I turned around and saw two giant sentry bots behind me, guns at the ready. "Deadly force authorized," one of them muttered.

"Oh shit," I said under my breath. One of the bots fired a missile which came careening down the hallway at me. Instinctively I dropped to my back, letting the missile just barely pass my face. It continued behind me and slammed into the floor, only about fifteen feet away. The explosion rocked the entire hallway and the metal grating below me started to buckle. It gave way and I fell about ten feet into a passage built under the grating. I blacked out for a moment from the impact, but managed to fade back to reality. I looked down the passage and saw the sentry bots making their way towards me on the still intact grating above me. I lifted the alien blaster and took aim. Everything was so blurry, it was a one-in-a-million at this point. I squeezed the trigger and was pushed back a foot by the force. The blue laser hit the grating under the sentry bots, taking it and the bottoms of the bots out. The blue light then mystically crawled up the sentry bots, dematerializing them as it went. Eventually the entirety of the bots was glowing blue. The bots tipped over and hit the grating next to them. I watched in amazement as they then slid through the grating and fell into ash on the floor.

"This thing is fucking sick," I said quietly. I crawled out of the hole I was in and made my way down the hallway. I looked down at me leg to see some blood trickling from beneath my suit. I had a gash on my shin somewhere, but I guess I should call myself lucky… considering I just got a missile shot at me. I tried door after door, until I finally found it. A room filled with glowing blue tubes, some had people inside. Some of the people were banging on the field in front of them, while others were chained down, unable to move at all. I walked past the tubes with people screaming for me to help them, but I had no time. I had to find the one I wanted, and fast. I looked a little further down and saw a tube containing a man. He was sitting on the floor with his head on his knees. His clothes were torn and his hair was a mess. He was facing the other way, so I couldn't make out who it was, but something in my mind told me… this was it. I approached the tube and knelt down next to it.

"I'm not saying anything," he said. "Kill me if you want. I'd almost welcome it at this point." That voice. I recognized that voice. Could this really be it?

"D… Dad?" I asked quietly. My father's head snapped up from his knees and he looked outside the tube. His eyes swelled with tears and his put his hand on the forcefield separating us.

"Aidan?" he asked. "I'm… I'm losing my mind. That's it. I'm going insane."

"No, Dad," I started, "it's me. It's really me. I came all this way to find you." My father looked at me, seeing the armor I was wearing and put his hand over his mouth.

"Why?" he asked, solemnly. "Why would you do this? You have to leave here! I won't let them hurt you, Aidan!"

"I'm not leaving without you, Dad!" I yelled back. "Reilly is outside. We're taking you with us." My father grew silent and looked me over again.

"Reilly?" he asked. He looked down at my hand and saw the glowing blue weapon I was holding. He slid backwards in the tube and stared at my in disbelief. "Is that? You didn't! She didn't! You opened the vault? You used the technology?" He got completely silent again, as another thought entered his mind. "You went to Old Olney?"

"It was worth it, Dad," I replied. "Now I'm getting you out of here. How do I shut this down?" My father regained his composure and started to think. He was about to answer, when I saw his eyes focus on something behind me.

"Aidan!" he screamed. "Look out!" I quickly turned around and aimed the alien blaster, but it was too late. Triton was on me faster than I could react. He knocked the weapon from my hands and grabbed my collar. He lifted me into the air with one arm and held me effortlessly off the ground. He gattling laser started to rev up as I struggled for air.

"Come back with me!" he yelled in his robotic voice. "I don't want to have to do this, Aidan!" I grabbed his arm and threw it off me. I fell back to the ground and caught my breath. I ran at Triton and took a swing. He grabbed my fist and twisted it, spinning me around and shoving me into a wall. I reached around with my other arm, trying to find something to help me. "It's over, Aidan!" I eventually clipped something on my belt, something spherical. It unlatched when I touched it, and I heard it clank against the ground. Suddenly Triton's grip loosened as he started to fall away from me. Whatever fell off me, Triton had stepped on it and fell to the floor. He hit the ground and his gattling laser started to slide away. I spun off the wall and looked around for what caused this. I looked just in time to see the lucky 8 ball rolling away.

"Wow," I muttered. "Lucky." Suddenly I heard a yell and looked back at Triton. He jumped to his feet and charged at me, throwing a punch. I ducked underneath and backed away. Fighting him was going to do me no good, his armor was way to thick. I looked around and the faint glow of the alien blaster caught my eye. I turned and dove for it, but Triton managed to grab my leg and throw me backwards. I slammed into the metal floor and skidded a few feet away. I looked up and saw Triton running for the alien blaster. I looked around and saw his gattling laser lying right next to me. Triton reached the blaster and picked it up.

"Got it!" he yelled.

"Almost!" I screamed back. Triton turned in time to see a hailstorm of red lasers come flying at him. He put up his forearms and took the full impact of the attack. His armor absorbed the damage, but not the force. He was thrown backwards into a wall, launching the blaster from his grip. I threw the gattling laser to the ground and charged forward. I caught the alien blaster and pointed it at Triton. He peeled himself off the wall and fell to one knee.

"No!" he yelled. "You fool! I'm doing this for your own good! Just give Eden the technology so you can go free! There's no use in you getting hurt over this!"

"Nice try, Triton! I'll never side with the Enclave. If you knew me or my friends, you would've learned that by now."

"Aidan, please!" he shouted. I aimed the blaster at him and ground my teeth. The adrenaline and rage was too much for me. I couldn't concentrate, couldn't think of what was right and what was wrong. Before I knew it, the barrier between them shattered and I squeezed the trigger. The blue laser fired from the weapon and launched towards Triton. He dropped out of the way, but the beam still clipped one of the generators on the shoulders of his suit. The giant electric generator vanished, causing the suit to malfunction. Where the generator used to be began glowing and exploded. Triton flew backwards from the blast and back into the wall. The left side of his helmet shattered and fell to pieces on the floor. He fell off the wall and collapsed before me. My father stared at the body and then back at me.

"Aidan," he said quietly. I couldn't hear him. Everything was silent, and my only focus was on the body before me. "Aidan." I continued staring at the body and the room started to blacken a little. Suddenly a little grew from Triton's body and began to take shape in front of me. It started to take on the form of a person, and then a woman, and before I knew it, my own mother was standing in front of me. She looked into my eyes in disappointment and sighed.

"Aidan," she said quietly as she shook her head. A tear slid from my eye and I lowered my weapon. "Aidan," she said again. I looked back down at the body in disbelief.

"ADAIN!" my father shouted. I snapped back to reality and turned to my father in his chamber. "Get me out of here! We have to go!" I nodded and holstered the alien blaster. I ran to the tube and started looking around. Suddenly I heard a grunt behind me. I turned and saw Triton getting to his knees.

"He's alive?" I asked quietly. Triton looked up at me and shook his head.

"It's a mistake, Aidan," he muttered. "You're making a mistake. You can't fight the Enclave! You'll never win."

"What makes you say that?" I asked. Triton slowly got to his feet and had to attempt several times to keep his balance.

"I tried for years," he replied. "Eventually they sucked me in, and there was no way back out."

"You're one of there most respected officers," I retorted. "There no use in lying to me, Triton." He regained his balanced and looked down at the ground.

"No there isn't," he said quietly. "At least not anymore." I was silent and started wondrously at him.

"Anymore?" I asked.

"I've been lying for years," he replied. "To everyone." He looked up at me and sighed. He reached up to his helmet and unfastened it. He started to pull the remains of his helmet up and off of his head. He threw the helmet to the floor, and the dim light of the room wash over his face. My mouth dropped and my eyes shot open. Suddenly, I couldn't control myself. My legs simply gave out under me, and I fell to my knees. Memories came back to me and quickly shattered into nothing but empty promises and lies.

"R… Rex?" I asked with whatever breath I had left. Rex closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Aidan."


	24. The Finale

"Rex," I said with whatever I had left. It felt like my heart had completely been ripped out of my chest. I had a lump in my throat so large I felt like I could have coughed it out. In this time, it even felt difficult to breath. I just wanted it to be a lie, I had never wished I was insane before… but this was it. If only it were an illusion, or my mind playing tricks on me… but it wasn't. One of my best friends, one of the men who saved my life over and over while trying to find my father… was against me from the start.

"Aidan," he began. "Aidan, I'm sorry but…"

"Shut up!" I screamed. I shook my head back and forth as the anger slowly began to build in me. All the lies, all the misguided trust. I felt like an idiot, a fool, a stupid child. I got back to my feet and gripped the alien blaster as hard as I could. I slowly lifted it and pointed it at Rex's chest. "You lied to me this entire time! You played me and my friends like this was some kind of sick game!"

"I had no choice!" he yelled back. "Don't you see what you're dealing with, Aidan? Look around you!" I kept my weapon pointed directly at Rex, but slowly looking around the room. The lights from the hundreds of panels on the walls lit up the room, and cameras of all sized were pointed directly at me. The glowing force field between me and my father casted an eerie shadow of me and Rex onto the opposing wall. "This isn't a raider camp! This isn't some gang of mercenaries! This is the Enclave! They are unstoppable, and I thought someone as smart as you could have figured that out!" I returned my stare to Rex and took a deep breath. I did all I could to stop myself from getting angry… but voices in the back of my head were begging me to shoot him. I shooed them away, using any strength I had and did my best to calm down.

"When, Rex?" I asked quietly. Rex looked into my eyes and tilted his head in confusion. "When did you start playing us?" Rex closed his eyes and looked towards the ground. There was a silence in the room… but I had no time to wait. "WHEN!" He shook his head and slowly turned away from me.

"I was stationed with the Brotherhood to try and learn all I could about their operations," he replied. "I was once one of their greatest assets, until the Enclave showed me what I could have. Weaponry, power… respect. I turned to their side, but did all I could to keep the Brotherhood in the dark." He opened his eyes again and looked upwards. "Elder Lyons knew something was different about me. He kept me from whatever was happening inside the Citadel… but there _is_ something happening. I secretly hoped that maybe it would be enough to stop the Enclave… and free me." I stared at the soldier across the room from me, unsure what to think. Why should I believe anything he said to me? I slowly lowered my weapon and looked away.

"Whose side are you on, Rex?" I asked. Rex looked back at me, seeing my weapon was no longer pointed at him. He looked between the alien blaster and my face. I couldn't begin to imagine what he was thinking about. He slowly opened his mouth, but then closed it again and shook his head.

"I don't know," he said quietly. I closed my eyes and sighed. Rex looked down at his belt and reached towards his hip. I snapped my head back to attention and readied the blaster again.

"What are you doing?" I asked angrily. Rex unclipped a holster at his waist and lifted it to his chest. He slowly pulled the gun out of the holster and let it glimmer in the light. I knew it all too well, and it felt like years since it had been in my hand.

"It doesn't matter what side I'm on anymore," he said softly. Rex threw the Stealthshot to me. I caught it with my right hand and slowly looked down at it. Rex then lifted his forearm and pressed a button on his gauntlet. The force field around my father vanished and he dropped to the floor in front of me when the wall he was leaning on disappeared. I looked down at him and up at Rex once more. I didn't care anymore if Rex wanted to hurt me… there was something that needed to be done and took over all priority. I dropped both weapons to the floor and fell to my knees next to my father. I slowly sat him up and looked into his eyes. Tears dripped down his face as I pulled him into an embrace. It was the greatest feeling I had ever experienced. Finally reunited with the man I had searched so long for.

"Oh, Aidan," he said quietly. "I can't believe you've done this." I never wanted to let go, but the sounds of footsteps emerged from the hallway, and they were getting closer at a brisk pace. I turned my head towards the door and then looked down at the ground. I picked up the alien blaster and handed my father the Stealthshot. I pressed the weapon into his chest until he slowly reached up and took it.

"Their coming for us," I said quietly. "We need to get out of here." Rex walked up to me, but never took his eyes off of the door.

"Turn right out of this doorway," he said to me. "Keep running until you reach a large metal door that says '1A.' Go through there and all the way up the stairs. There will be a door at the top of the stairs that leads you to the exit." I stared at Rex and slowly got to my feet.

"Why should I believe you?" I asked him. "This could be a trap." Rex shrugged and looked at his gatling laser.

"Could be," he said quietly. He then turned his head and looked into my eyes. "But what other choice do you have?" I stared back at him and then turned to the door.

"What are you going to do?" I asked him. Rex sighed and then reached down for his laser. He picked up the massive weapon and looked over it, slowly. I was ready to fight if I even saw it begin to spin up.

"What I should have done when the Enclave first approached me," he replied. He looked back at the doorway and motioned me to leave. "I will make this right." I looked back at my father and then at Rex one last time. I nodded to him and then ran to the door, my father following behind me. I ran out of the doorway and took a right, listening to what Rex instructed. My father and I continued down a hallway of metal and gadgetry, with seemingly no soldiers around. Suddenly, the air behind us was filled with the sounds of lasers and gunshots. My pace slowed, and I eventually stopped. I turned back around and stared down the hallway to where we came from. I could make out the doorway we had exited, and could see it lighting up with red and green lights as laser rifles and plasma guns fired at will. I took a step towards the door when my father grabbed my shoulder.

"We need to leave, Aidan," he said sternly. I never looked at him and kept my eyes fixed on the doorway. "Let him earn the redemption he wanted." I thought back to the moment I met Rex, the way he saved me from the supermutants, and protected me while we fought the behemoth. How he rescued me from the radspider… and how heartbroken I was when he went missing. Suddenly the lights within the room stopped flashing and no more noise came from down the hallway. An eerie silence flooded over the hallway, and never before had a prayed for more gunfire. My father pulled on my shoulder again and I slowly turned back to the direction we were headed. I finally looked away from the door, and continued down the hallway.

We ran for another fifty feet or so before a doorway came into view. What seemed like an impossibility came into view, and we could clearly read the signs around the doorway.

"There it is!" I yelled. "1A." My father and I reached the doorway and opened it. The center spun in circles and then the metal of the door split in half, allowing entry.

"SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH!" A siren blared as soon as we passed the doorway, but there was no turning back now. In front of us was a massive tower of stairs, with cords and wires snaking their way down the center. I ran to the first step and looked up, before looked down at my father again.

"No choice," I said solemnly. My father nodded and then quickly raised his right arm. The Stealthshot was now inches from my face as it fired, sending smoke in all directions. The sound pierced my ears and made my eyes shake in my skull. I looked up and saw an enclave soldier fall over the railing on a higher stair and crash to the floor below. My father tucked the gun away again and made his way up the stairs. I looked down at the soldier again, seeing a bullet hole right in the center of his helmet. I looked at my father and smirked. "You weren't kidding about you and that gun." I followed him up the stairs for what felt like miles. Finally we reached the top and were on a grated platform. Across from us was a metal door… our ticket out. I couldn't believe how much I longed for the Capital Wasteland again. I stepped towards the door, when a voice rang out around us.

"Leaving so soon?" it asked. Me and my father turned and saw a man standing in front of a massive computer monitor. He had his arms folded behind his back and was looked straight into my eyes. This was it, face-to-face with the President… and this time… I had the weaponry.

"Eden," my father began.

"Good afternoon, Mister Wolfe," he said smoothly. "That's quite the son you've raised." My father ground his teeth in anger. I couldn't help but notice when Eden talked, it seemed like an eerie echo of his voice emitted from the entire room around us.

"It's over, Eden," my father said grimly. "You'll never get this technology!" Eden looked at my father and unfolded his arms.

"Over? Why Maximus… it's only just begun." Suddenly the doors behind us opened and five enclave soldiers stepped forward, with Colonel Autumn by their side. They were holding Rex by his arms and dragging him along with them. The other soldiers all aimed their weapons at me and my father, prepared to shoot at any moment.

"Rex," I said quietly.

"You see what happens when you cross the Enclave?" Eden asked. "There are consequences to actions like these."

"It seemed like Triton here will no longer be of service to us," Autumn said confidently. "Looks like we'll just have to kill you." Rex smiled and looked into Autumn's eyes.

"Do your worst you son of a bitch," he said with a grin. Autumn lowered his brow in disgust and looked up at the soldiers with him.

"Very well," he said. "If Triton here wants the worst, then give him the worst. Take him to the Sanctuary. I'm sure the Claws there wouldn't mind another tasty treat."

"Sure… feed a defenseless man to the Deathclaws… have fun living with yourselves after that one," Rex said to the soldiers around him.

"You won't be defenseless," Eden said with a smirk. "Guards, see to it that Triton gets planted in the Deathclaw Sanctuary with his beloved gatling laser. At least give the man a fighting chance." Rex ground his teeth and glared at Eden.

"Even if I die in there, someone _will _come find you and take you out!" he yelled. "I only hope they use my weapon to get the vengeance it deserves!"

"Well it's off to the Sanctuary for you and your vengeance," Autumn cut in.

"Take him away," Eden began. The guards left, carrying Rex with them. I jumped to stop them, when a loud bang sounded out in the room. It was deafening, and coupled with a loud crack directly to my left. I heard a scream and then looked to my side. I saw my father holding his leg in agony. He fell to the floor and dropped the Stealthshot to the grating. I fell down next to him, still holding the alien blaster firmly in my hand.

"Dad!" I yelled. "Dad, no!"

"I'm okay," he replied. I could see blood leaking through his fingers from the bullet wound in his leg. I looked up to see the last of the smoke rising from Autumn's pistol. He still aimed it at my father and closed one eye to get a better shot. I started to lift the alien blaster, when the entire room began to shake.

"Enough!" Eden shouted. "Autumn! Holster you weapon and leave!" Autumn turned the president, dumbfounded.

"But sir, I…"

"Now, Colonel!" Autumn sighed and put away his pistol. He looked me in the eyes and then slowly turned around.

"As you wish," he said quietly. Eden watched him leave the room and then turned to the other guards.

"You as well," Eden stated. "I want to be alone with the Wolfes." The guards looked at one another before slowly lowering their weapons. They all turned and walked out the doors behind them. The door slid shut and the room became silent. I was still on the ground, tending to my wounded father, while Eden began pacing back and forth.

"Why did you send them away?" my father asked. Eden smiled and looked up at the monitor behind him.

"I wanted a chance to be alone with the two men who have caused me and the nation so much grief," he replied. My anger was beginning to peak again. This man sounded so confident and condescending, and didn't care at all that my father had been shot in the leg. He was heartless, soulless… like he wasn't even human. I dropped the alien blaster to the floor and slowly stood up.

"Good," I said quietly. "I wanted to be alone with you as well." I slowly turned towards the president and clenched my fist. He looked at me and raised one of his eyebrows, while still giving a small smile. Suddenly, my anger took over and I couldn't hold back anymore. I took off my back foot and charged at Eden. My fist was aching to be buried in Eden's face, I couldn't wait to finally get my revenge. I got closer and closer to Eden, until I could see every bristle of his thin white moustache. I threw my fist as hard as I could and let it collide with the bridge of his nose. I heard a loud crack and felt the breaking of bone… but not in the way I hoped. Eden didn't move… not even an inch. My finger, on the other hand, had completely snapped in half, and was hopelessly crooked and broken. I screamed in pain and stepped away from the president. He suddenly stepped forward, almost faster than I could see and punched me in the stomach. I flew into the air before he grabbed my leg and tore me back to the ground. I slammed into the grading, making a loud crash echo throughout Raven Rock.

"Aidan!" my father screamed. Pain was shooting through my spine, and my head was a jumble of thoughts and memories. I started to open my eyes, when Eden slammed his foot down onto my chest, holding me to the floor. I felt my sternum crack from the impact and it suddenly became difficult to breath. I looked up at the president, seeing that same grin on his face. He looked down at me and shook his head.

"Aidan, Aidan, Aidan," he began, "you just don't understand. I will get that technology, and the nation will become a better place. What are you? Someone who _doesn't _want to help America? Some kind of communist?"

"What… what are you?" I barely breathed out. Eden leaned down, getting even closer to my face. The massive monitor behind him framed his head.

"I will get the latest technology," he stated. I watched as a line on the monitor moved exactly with Eden's words. I looked into his eyes and saw them glow red and slowly refocus on my face, like they were zooming in and out. I gasped and my brain quickly connected all the loose ends that flooded in.

"You want the latest technology," I began, "… because you **_are _**the latest technology!" Eden smiled again and stood back up, towering over me. "You're an android!" Eden laughed and shook his head.

"Not exactly, young child. This," he said as he motioned to the computer behind him, "is John Henry Eden. This," he said as he motioned to his body, "was simply designed to allow me mobility. It has no brain of its own. The brain, the thought, and the experience lies behind me. I am mankind's greatest technological achievement. I am made from past information gathered from every American president and person of interest known to man. The prowess of hundreds is programmed into my circuits, and thus, I am the greatest mind this nation has ever seen." Eden looked back down at me and shook his head. "And you thought you could stop the Enclave." I looked behind me and saw the alien blaster lying on the floor.

"I will stop the Enclave!" I yelled. I looked at Eden and then quickly flipped onto my stomach. I crawled towards it and grabbed hold of the blaster. I turned and pointed it at Eden, keeping him dead in my sights. I pulled the trigger… and nothing. The blue lights on the blaster dimmed and turned black. I turned the blaster over and stared at it.

"What?" I asked. "Why won't you work?" Eden laughed and I looked up at him. He was holding a glowing blue cylinder and twirling it around his fingers.

"It appears you're out of ammunition," he said jokingly. I stared at the cylinder in pure shock.

"What is that thing?" I asked. Eden waving the ammo in the air and looked at it with curiosity.

"This is what makes your little weapon work," he stated. "It's some kind of alien power cell, used to cycle energy into that weapon of yours."

"How?" I began. "How do you know this about the alien technology? I thought this was a blur to you." Eden laughed and shook his head.

"You see Aidan, you may have figured out how to use the weapon…" Eden then turned to a panel to his left and pushed a few buttons. A small container emerged from the wall and extended towards the president. I watched it slowly reach him as he opened the top of it. He pulled out something that immediately took my breath away. "…but you're not the only one who has one." Eden was holding another alien weapon, almost identical to mine. He put the blue cylinder into the weapon and all of the lights around it started glowing red. He aimed the weapon towards me and smiled.

"You knew," I said quietly. "You knew it was a weapon. You just needed me to show you how to use it." Eden laughed a little under his breath before looking me right in the eyes.

"You were quite the instructor, Mister Wolfe," he stated. "We discovered this little thing a while ago out in the wasteland. We call it the Firelance."

"You're… you're lying," my father said quietly. "There's no way." Eden smiled again and took a step closer to me.

"Isn't there, Maximus?" he asked. "Would you be shocked to learn that alien technology falls from the sky almost every day? Seems the radiation coming from out very planet is starting to bring those beings down. We just heard reports of another over by Minefield." Eden looked me in the eye and got ready to fire. "The faster we learn to use these… the easier we can defend ourselves. Do me a favor, and let me know if I'm using it right." I closed my eyes, when a loud bang erupted in the room. I heard a clank of metal and felt the heat of sparks shower over me. I opened my eyes to see sparks and bolts of lightning erupting out of Eden's arm. He looked past me to what had attacked him. I turned to see my father, still sitting from the bullet wound, with the Stealthshot in his hand. He aimed again and took another shot, this one slammed into Eden's left eye, sending scraps metal in all directions. The bullet stripped all of the 'skin' off of the left side of Eden's face. All that remained was a glowing red eye and jumbles of metal and wire. Eden yelled in anger and lifted his blaster. He fired and I watched the bolt careen over my head. It hit the ground next to my father, missing him by inches… but relief turned to dismay when I saw that this weapon was different than mine. Not only was it extremely powerful… but it caused flames to erupt from the blast sight. My father dropped the Stealthshot and screamed in pain as flames started to consume his clothing.

"Dad!" I yelled. I jumped to my feet and ran to my father. I started putting him out, not caring about Eden anymore. Finally I got the flames to subside and the slowly went out. My father was starting to go unconscious, and his skin was covered in burns. I pulled him close to me and shook him a few times. "Dad! Stay awake! Please!" I heard Eden's footsteps getting closer, but I couldn't bring myself to look away from my father. I watched as he slowly opened his eyes and looked into mine.

"Aidan," he said quietly. Tears started to form in my eyes at the thought that… this might be it for me and my father. "Aidan, you came all this way to save me… you risked your life to find me."

"What kind of son would I be if I didn't?" I asked him. The footsteps continued to get closer, as my father's breath began to quicken. I looked down at my father's body, seeing revealed skin that was horribly burnt and charred from the attack.

"You must get away from here," he said. "I don't care about the wreckage anymore. I don't care about the technology anymore. I just want to know that you are safe." The footsteps stopped right behind me, and my father looked up. "Eden!" he yelled. "Eden please let my son go!" Suddenly there was a loud bang… and that was it. That was all I can really remember… just a loud bang. The night my father was taken by Autumn… that night that seemed like years ago… had almost a happy feeling compared to this. My father's eyes floated to mine. It's like I could see his mind, taking in all the information it could… before it shut down. They fell onto me and my eyes. My father slowly reached up and put his hand on my face.

"Aidan," he barely mouthed out. He hand slid down from my face and grazed over the Reilly's Rangers' patch on my armor. My father's eyelids slowly closed and cut the contact between him and myself… forever. I just stared at him. I simply sat there and stared at his face. His burnt body, which was bathed in flames only seconds ago… felt cold as ice. The only warm sensation came from the blood that ran down his chest and crawled over my fingers. I slowly started to shake my head as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Dad?" I asked quietly. I waited for an answer… and I can't recall how many times I prayed to hear any noise at all. "Dad?" I asked louder. The tears were now streaming down my face, but I didn't notice… I couldn't feel anything. I finally looked down to my father's chest, where the fresh hole from a 44 was still leaking blood down my father's body. The smoking barrel of the Stealthshot behind my head was the only sound in the room around us. For the first time since my journey began… it didn't matter… nothing mattered. I had no mission anymore… I had no purpose anymore. Then I felt the cold barrel of my own weapon press against my head, and I could head the cylinder turn, prepping the next bullet to fire.

"Don't be sad, Aidan," Eden said. "You'll be with him again soon enough." I looked at my father's face again and closed my eyes. I nodded my head a few times and looked downwards. Eden was right… I would be with him again… and I wouldn't even have to wait. Suddenly the door to the exit before us slid open. Eden looked up towards the blinding light to the Capital Wasteland, and was greeting with a hailstorm of gunfire. Bullets screamed past my head, and sparks from Eden's metallic body showered over me and my fallen father. I opened my eyes to see Charon and Reilly charging in, firing as many rounds as they could. The Firelance and Stealthshot flew from Eden's hands as he backed towards the railing behind him and skipped across the grating below. It almost felt like slow motion as I saw more and more fake skin tear away from Eden's body. He hit the railing behind him and slowly pressed into the steel.

"Aidan!" Reilly screamed. She was directly in front of me, but her voice sounded miles away. "Aidan, we need to go!" I stared into her eyes and slowly shook my head. Nothing she was saying was making sense to me… like I couldn't even understand English anymore. Reilly grabbed my arm and lifted me off the ground. I saw her look down at my father as I rose to my feet. She may have been pulling me to safety in the heat of battle… but in the slow motion of this time, I could still see a tear rolling down her cheek. I turned back in time to see Charon charging towards Eden, screaming at the top of his lungs. He hiked his massive boot into the air and slammed it into Eden's chin. The android slid backwards over the top of the railing and fell off the massive structure we stood upon. It fell the entire way before slamming into the metal floor below, scattering shrapnel in all directions. Charon stared over the edge and grunted at the fallen president. Suddenly, I saw him tear away from the railing and run back towards us.

"He's coming back!" Charon yelled. "Get to the bird now!" I looked back into the room at my father and then the floor next to him. I suddenly tore myself away from Reilly and ran back into the room.

"Aidan!" Charon yelled, seeing my run back into the room. "Move!" I knelt down on the ground and grabbed the Firelance. I looked up to see Eden barreling up the staircase. His eyes were glowing red, with what seemed like more rage than any human could handle. I slowly lifted the Firelance and aimed it at Eden's head. I whispered a small prayer for my father as I pulled the trigger. Eden was still charging at me when the bolt slammed into his head. He continued on his path as his robotic body erupted into flames. The room around us was filled with screams of anger and artificial agony. The android turned a blinding shade of blue as it neared me. Then, only a few inches from my face, it fell away into nothing but a cascade of blue ashes. They blew through the air and whirled around me before finally pouring out into the wasteland. The monitor started to flicker and eventually dropped to a pitch black.

"Aidan!" Reilly screamed. "More are coming! We have to leave now!" I looked down at my feet and quickly grabbed the Alien Blaster and Stealthshot. I threw them to Charon, who juggled them in the air a few times before catching them. I then ran to my father and threw my arms under him. I lifted him up and ran to the door, with Charon close behind. Outside was a storm of dust kicked up by the helicopter in front of us. Enclave bodies were lying across the ground in pools of blood, with weapons of all kind soiling the dirt of the Capital Wasteland. Reilly jumped in the helicopter and ran to the front.

"Donovan, get us the hell out of here!" she yelled. Donovan nodded and started to take off. Reilly returned to the door to help hoist my father's body inside. I climbed in after him, followed closely by Charon. We took off, leaving Raven Rock behind us. We were chased away by constant gunfire, until the horrible place of my father's death, was nothing more than a speck in the middle of the wasteland.

"Good job, Reilly," Charon commented behind me. She was silent, but I knew she had more on her mind than the mission. I was sitting on the side of the helicopter, looking out at the dust below me. I looked over my shoulder at my father's body, letting the tears flood down my face. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to look at it. Reilly knelt down next to me and looked into my eyes. She also had tears in hers, but a smile on her face as well.

"We took him down, Aidan," she said. "We did exactly what your father wanted." I felt a hand on my other shoulder and saw Charon sit down next to me.

"He'd be real proud right now, kid," Charon said quietly. "Your father was a real good man." I nodded and looked back out of the side of the helicopter.

"He was," I said quietly. We continued through the sky towards Reilly's Compound, with the Enclave left crippled behind us.

One week later, my father was buried next to Reilly's compound, with the alien blaster hidden under his grave. The bulk of the wreckage was carted out into the water off of Rivet City, where we let it sink to the bottom, hopefully not be discovered until mankind had rebuilt and could prepare for information like this. Charon was holding the Firelance in his hand and looked it over.

"Weird fucking thing, huh?" he asked. I laughed as he handed it to Reilly. I held a missile launcher tightly in my hands and watched as Reilly strapped it to the end of a missile.

"Would you do the honors, Aidan?" she asked. I grabbed the missile and loaded it into the launcher. I aimed it into the sky and imagined Autumn standing directly in front of it.

"Here's to you, Dad," I said softly. I fired the missile into the sky, seeing the Firelance go with it. The missile exploded off in the distance, followed by another massive explosion of green and yellow. It was spectacular to see.

"Hope that destroyed the damn thing," Charon muttered. I nodded and lowered the missile launcher.

"Yeah," I replied. "Hey, if it didn't, it will probably end up with some wastelander who will stupidly piss through whatever ammo is left in it." Reilly laughed and shook her head.

"Real responsible guys," she snickered.

"Hey… it was pretty cool," Charon replied. We laughed as we hugged Reilly and said our last goodbyes to one another. I had no need to stay at the Compound any longer. It was time for me to move on. I spent the next day escorting Charon to the Museum, where I promised I'd take him.

"Well, kid," Charon started. "Looks like this is it." I nodded and held out my hand.

"It's been fun." Charon nodded and looked down at my hand. He slowly reached out and shook it, giving me a small smile in the meantime. We looked into each other's eyes, but neither one of us spoke a word. I knew he was doing the same thing I was… which was relaying every single adventure we had shared. The subways tunnels, the wasteland, and even the mutants in DC. It was all over now. We ended the shake and let go, but still looked at each other. Charon slowly turned to walk away, when I reached out and stopped him. I don't know what compelled me to do it… but I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. There was a moment of awkward silence, with neither one of us speaking a word, until finally I spoke out without any provocation.

"Thank you, Charon," I said quietly. Charon's arm lifted up and patted me on the back a few times.

"It's what I do," he replied. We came apart and Charon kept his hand on my shoulder. "And hey, who knows… maybe I'll help some other kid one of these days." I nodded and looked back at the exit.

"Good luck, Charon. I'll never forget what you did for me." Charon nodded and also looked at the door out.

"Where will you go now?" he asked. I shrugged and looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't know," I replied. "I'll probably head west. Who knows, maybe civilization is progressing faster out there, away from the Enclave's epicenter."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied. "If I ever feel like leaving this place… maybe I'll go looking for you. Could be fun." I smiled and shook my head.

"I'll be around DC a little longer," I stated. "I want to travel lighter, so I'm going to get rid of some stuff."

"Like what?" Charon asked.

"Well, Flak refused to take the Victory Rifle back, but I can't take it… too heavy. I saw a shack out in the wastes… I'll leave it in there. Maybe someone will find it useful." Charon nodded to me and I started walking towards the exit. I got to the door and turned one last time to look at my best friend. I thought about saying something else… but what was left to say? I walked out of the museum and closed the door behind me.

So that's my story. The story of Aidan Wolfe. I started as a shut-in… no knowledge of the Capital Wasteland at all. Now, people like Reilly and Charon think of me as a great adventurer… a lone wanderer, roaming the wastes and looking for anyone who needs my help. I don't know where I'll end up… but I feel like another adventure may be closer than I expect… because a whole new world is just beyond the horizon. A whole new world… is coming soon.


End file.
